The limits and opportunities of the agriculture cooperation between China and Russia at the current situation

ZhuYang

Abstract

With the change of the international situation and the development of economic globalization, the development of China-Russian agricultural products trade has entered a new historical stage and is developing in a good direction. The regional types of world agriculture are mainly divided into six categories: rice farming, commercial grain farming, large range farming, mixed agriculture, plantation agriculture and animal husbandry. There are different countries in different agricultural regions, and each country has its own agricultural policies. However, in order to better conduct the trade of agricultural products for importing and exporting, the WTO formulated the general framework of «agricultural agreement», but the specific agreement did not reach an agreement in the DOHA round negotiations. The Russian and China trade is complementary to each other, and the Russian agriculture is compared, which develops rapidly under the background of One Belt And One Road, especially soybean. Besides soybean and other agricultural products, there is the perfect development prospects of agricultural products in China and Russia.

Key words: agricultural region type, China and Russia, trade, soybean, prospect

Introduction

Since ancient times, both the east and the west have attached great importance to agriculture. Agriculture is very important to our life. It is the premise of all economic activities and the foundation of other sectors of the national economy. Because the east and the west are different in physical geography and social history, the development of agriculture is also different. China has been physiocratism since ancient times, it is a large agricultural country, while the west is dominated by industry and commerce in a certain historical period, but agriculture is also in constant development. Throughout the history of human civilization, agriculture not only occupies an important position in China, but also a central position in all countries in the world. The basic feature of global agricultural development is that it is spread to all parts of the world by a number of agricultural origin centers, through the introduction of seeds and the spread of farming methods along different routes, and combines with the local actual conditions to gradually develop into a distinctive agricultural production appearance and agricultural types. The development of global agriculture can be divided into three stages: primitive agriculture, traditional agriculture and modern agriculture, due to the differences in agricultural development in the world, such as natural environment and historical society, it's discrepant about the agricultural development in different countries and stages, so there are also different agricultural problems. Primitive agriculture lasted for sixty-seven thousand years, divided into Dao cultivation and Hoeing two period, early humans began in about 8000 BC the domestication and breeding of animals and cereals, at the same time, the human also entered the stage of primitive agriculture, west Asia, north Africa, China, India and Central America and other places also come the ancient civilization, primitive agriculture along with the progress of the production tools and techniques, the collection and fishing industry proportion in declining, primitive farming and animal husbandry accounted for gradually rise. Due to the skillful using the fire, global agriculture gradually moved from primitive agriculture to traditional agriculture. In the west, traditional agriculture started from slave Greece and Rome, and in China, it was transformed from slave society to feudal society in the spring and autumn and warring states periods. During this period, agriculture was the most important sector of economic development in the east and the west. There were differences in agricultural farming techniques between the east and the west. In the east, intensive cattle farming was adopted, while in the west, a two-bed and three-bed system of recreational rotation was adopted. With the rising of western capitalism, traditional agriculture gradually developed into modern agriculture, which officially entered modern agriculture in the early 20th century by using the combination of power machinery and synthetic fertilizers.

The global agricultural trade is developing, in the past because of the influence of science, technology and geographical conditions, trade exchanges were not frequent in the development stage of primitive agriculture and traditional agriculture. Most of them were self-sufficient, after entering the period of modern agriculture, the agricultural gap is increasing day by day about the developed countries and the developing countries, and the trade exchanges are also increasing. Especially after the two world wars, agriculture developed most rapidly. Developing countries mainly produced in rice, cotton and some fruits, while developed countries mainly produced in wheat, corn and meat and milk. Due to historical factors, the major agricultural products cultivated in various countries are different in terms of their crops and demands, which has accelerated the development of global agricultural products trade. The policies of various countries on agricultural products import and export trade are also changing constantly according to the characteristics of different historical periods. Because of the special importance of agriculture, the world trade organization (WTO) held the DOHA trade talks, in which issues related to agriculture have not yet been uniformly resolved.

Global agricultural trade is a complex business, with each country pursuing trade policies that are in its own self-interest. The territory of China and Russia is adjacent to each other, the international relations are harmonious, their trade exchanges are very frequent, but in different periods, there are also different characteristics and problems. In recent years, China put forward «One Belt And One Road», so the economic and trade development to the west, and Russia is in the key position of this line, for the development of agricultural trade to provide favorable conditions. Since the 21st century, the two countries have signed a series of agreements on agricultural strategic development, which is more conducive to the development of agricultural trade. In recent years, the rapid development of e-commerce, especially cross-border e-commerce, it has also provided new opportunities for the development of agricultural trade between them. Through online trading and international logistics, as well as preferential tariffs and subsidies, the online trading volume of agricultural products gradually increases. Recently, the drastic changes in the international political and economic situation, the trade war between China and the United States, the turbulence of the crude oil market and the severe epidemic in 2020 have provided new opportunities for the bilateral trade. We hope to seize the opportunities and achieve better development.

1. Actual problems of development of the world agriculture

Nowadays, with the integration of global economy and the continuous progress of science and technology, each country has its own specialties and shortages, so the trade of agricultural products among countries is also increasingly frequent. Different natural geographical conditions and different social, historical development trajectories lead to different agricultural characteristics in different countries. However, with the development of modern agriculture, agriculture in some developed countries is more advanced than that in developing countries. However, advanced science and technology the progress of developing countries that can learn slowly, and natural geographical conditions of constraint, which is no way to change, different soil, climate, water resources and infrastructure, formed the different cultivation patterns in the world, rice planting, commodity grain farming, ranch grazing, mixed farming, plantation agriculture and animal husbandry. Different agricultural regions cultivate different crops, according to different needs of different countries, these crops are traded all over the world, each countries will formulate corresponding policies and guidelines according to its own national conditions. In order to promote the healthy development of global agricultural trade, the world trade organization signed the general framework of «agricultural agreement» in the Uruguay negotiations and reached preliminary agreements on some trade issues. As the agricultural trade grew, the «agricultural agreement» could not match the current needs, so DOHA talks were held several times, but the agricultural part of the negotiations was delayed. It is difficult to reach an agreement on agriculture, which is fundamental to the country and the most vital interests of the people. However, I believe that an agreement will be reached in the near future to promote the development of global agricultural trade.

1.1 Different systems of agriculture development in the world

On earth, different soils, climates, water resources, and infrastructure have led to different farming patterns: rice farming, commercial grain farming, ranching, mixed farming, plantation farming, and livestock farming.

Rice planting industry is divided into three types: irrigated rice, upland rice planting and estuarine rice planting. It is mainly distributed in Asia, followed by Africa, Europe and America. These areas have fertile soil, relatively flat terrain, high requirements for water resources, the need for abundant water resources for irrigation, precipitation to reach about 500-800mm. Most of the climate is tropical rain forest climate, tropical and subtropical monsoon climate, in addition to water resources requirements on the climate temperature also has certain conditions, the climate needs to be relatively hot and humid, conducive to the growth of rice. In addition, the rice planting industry requires a large labor force for intensive farming, so the yield per unit area is high, the requirement for mechanized production is low, and large-scale planting is not required, so the commodity rate is relatively low. Different countries have different geographical locations on the earth, resulting in different areas of rice maturity, some second for one year, some third for two years, and so on. In the world now, in addition to Asia, Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Europe's Spain, Italy, Latin America, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil also has the distribution of rice planting, the Mississippi River downstream in the United States, also with big paddy fields, but USES a dry land broadcast technology of large-scale production. The characterized of the rice planting in the world: 1. High production concentration, mainly in Asia. 2. The yield gap per unit area is large. Egypt is the country with the largest yield per unit area in the world due to the maturity gap and the influence of natural geographical factors. 3. The quality gap is obvious, and the export quality of rice from Thailand and Pakistan is the best. The countries that grow and produce the most are India and China. Thailand has been the largest rice exporter in the world, followed by Vietnam and India, while China and Russia are the leading importers in the world. Although China also produces a large amount of rice each year, its population is large and its demand is high. Russia has grown rice in the south on a large scale in recent years, it still imports a lot of rice from India, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. The global rice trade is characterized by the concentration of exporting countries and the dispersion of importing countries.

Commodity grain farming, is geared to the needs of the market of regional agricultural type, planting crops are mainly wheat and corn, which is the basic characteristics, high mechanization degree and the production large scale, so you need to rich land resources, large machinery and equipment, and convenient traffic, but it's low of this type for regional agricultural demand for labor. Because the main planting of wheat and corn, the need for rich land resources, the soil to be fertile, relatively flat terrain, sparse. In terms of climate, it is generally distributed in the temperate continental climatic zone, where the climate is relatively mild, hot in summer and cold in winter, but the precipitation is evenly distributed, suitable for the growth of crops, mainly distributed in the south and north latitude of 40° ~ 60° in the Eurasian continent and the inland areas of the north American continent and the southeast of South America. In addition, it is a market-oriented commercial type of agriculture, which also requires convenient transportation of crops, massive use of large machinery and equipment to reduce labor force and increase yield per unit area. And it is also important to constantly update and improve agricultural science and technology to improve production capacity and increase profits through technological upgrading. The global commodity grain agriculture is mainly distributed in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Russia, Ukraine and other countries and the northeast and northwest regions of China. The United States is the world's largest commodity grain producer with a commodity rate of more than 95%. The United States has a vast area, high degree of urbanization, relatively small rural population, a lot of large-scale farms, and the United States is far ahead in science and technology in the world, the production of each link is mechanical operations, some farms seeding, fertilization, spraying pesticides, and the use of aircraft operations. Moreover, in the early days, the United States built a trans-west railway network, along with shipping on the great lakes and the Mississippi River, and the government also supported and interfered with various agricultural policies. China is the largest importer of agricultural products to the United States. In recent years, the trade war between China and the United States has hit the import and export trade of agricultural products, China instead imports more agricultural products from Russia, boosting agricultural trade between China and Russia. Canada is one of the world top three wheat exporters and the world's sixth-largest wheat producer. Canadian grain production is concentrated in two regions: the west (Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba) and the east (Ontario and Quebec). In the western region, wheat, barley, oats and low erucic acid rapeseed are grown, mainly for foreign markets. In the eastern region, corn, soybeans and winter wheat are produced, mainly for domestic consumption.

Land productivity in some countries, agricultural output per ha, constant 2004-2006 dollars per ha.

Source: FAO

Ranching animal husbandry is also a type of market-oriented agricultural region, mainly distributed in the temperate continental climate, savanna climate. Temperate continental climatic zone, where the climate is relatively mild, hot in summer and cold in winter, but the rainfall distribution is uniform, suitable for the growth of crops, mainly distributed in the south and north latitude of 40° ~ 60° in Eurasia and the inland areas of North America continent and southeast South America. The climate of the savanna is between the latitude of 10° n to the tropic of Capricorn and tropic of Capricorn, and it is in the alternating control area of the equatorial low pressure belt and the trade wind belt. The main areas of distribution are central Africa, Brazil, northern and eastern Australia. The annual temperature is around 25 degrees Celsius, and it is divided into two distinct wet and dry seasons. The precipitation is relatively concentrated and abundant, generally around 700-1000 mm. The natural landscape is the savanna. Although the area is vast, the vegetation is sparse, the soil is not suitable for farming, but the grassland is vast, so it is suitable for grazing. Because facing the market, it's need very high agricultural commodity rate to guarantee the profit, and have high mechanization level and convenient transportation. Cattle ranches in the United States and Argentina, and sheep ranches in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Cattle ranching on the Argentine Pampas is an outstanding representative of ranching in the world. It is one of the excellent natural grasslands in the world. The practice of rotation between farming and grass grazing is practiced. It is also sparsely populated and offers low rents, making it possible for ranches to operate on a large scale and to be profitable. Argentina has a large area with few people, a well-connected railway, and maritime refrigeration technology, which facilitates the export of beef. Every process has strict inspection standards, pays attention to the progress of science and technology, and the production scale is large, the commodity rate is well and the professional level is high. Argentina not only exports beef and cowhide, cowhide export volume in the world, mainly in leather products export. Argentina is also a big exporter of whole milk powder.

Mixed agriculture is a comprehensive regional type of agriculture in which planting and animal husbandry are combined, individual areas and farms produce both crops and livestock. This type of agriculture has a long history and emerged after the cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals. This mode of agriculture requires the formation of a benign agro-ecosystem within the farm, alternating the planting of wheat, pasture, or fallow on the land to fully maintain the fertility of the wheat field. And the feed can be fed to sheep, whose manure can be used as fertilizer for wheat fields, naturally forming a small ecosystem within the farm. The busy season of wheat planting is in autumn and spring, and winter is the growing season of wheat, and winter is the right time to herd sheep, so that farmers can make full use of the farm all the year round, so that they can better adapt to the market. This mode of agricultural production requires extensive land to raise cattle and sheep, fertile land to grow crops, and abundant rainfall to meet the needs of both farming and animal husbandry. The Mediterranean climate can well meet the needs of mixed agriculture, hot and dry summer, the hottest month below 22 ?, the air is relatively humid, foggy, known as cool summer. Winter is mild and rainy, the air is dry, the hottest temperature in 22? above, known as warm summer. A typical mixed farming country is Australia, which exports the most wool in the world and is one of the major wheat exporters. The mixed wheat and sheep farming method is widely used in the grassland areas of southeast and west Australia, of which the murray-darling basin in the southeast is the main wheat sheep belt. The Darling basin is a sparsely populated area where farms are large, close to roads, and farming is highly mechanized, the farmer can do all the farm work by hiring one or two people. Australia agricultural and sideline products are famous for being green and pollution-free in the world. Each production process has strict inspection standards. Moreover, it pays attention to the development of agricultural science and technology and the cultivation of agricultural talents, Australia agricultural and sideline products are highly competitive in the world.

Plantation agriculture is a type of large-scale intensive commodity agriculture with monoculture in the tropics. Most plantations have not only agricultural and transportation machinery, but also road systems, processing plants, machinery and tools repair shops, electricity and water, education and sanitation facilities. The main crops are: natural rubber, coffee, cocoa, tea; Bananas, pineapples, mangoes; Oil palm, sisal, tobacco, cotton and jute, etc. Plantation agriculture general distribution in the tropical monsoon climate, tropical rainforest climate and tropical grassland climate zone, the main characteristics of the climate, the annual temperature is high, the temperature difference is small, annual rainfall above 2000 mm, no drought, the soil is fertile, and there are many hot days fertilizer, no high demands to the topography, are mainly distributed in Latin America, southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa. Southeast Asia is rich in natural rubber, the rubber export countries are concentrated in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, accounting for about 80% of the world's rubber exports. Cultivation of natural rubber is generally based on the planting industry, in addition to the rubber export of its secondary processing products, such as latex. Generally speaking, planting industry and agriculture will complete all the processes in the park, requiring more labor force and higher mechanical equipment requirements, which cannot be completed by manpower. There will not be only one kind of crop in the park, but a simple natural circle, which can be fully utilized to maximize economic benefits.

Animal husbandry is one of the most common and most prevalent types of agriculture. Animal husbandry is defined as the agricultural geographical type of animal products such as meat, eggs, milk, wool, cashmere, leather, silk and medicinal materials obtained through artificial breeding and reproduction of domesticated animals. The main characteristic of animal husbandry is centralization, scale, and profit - making. This mode of agriculture has low requirements on the natural environment, not in a specific climate type of areas, mainly artificial feeding, but feeding technology content is low, the number of labor is small. Moreover, the input cost is relatively low. No matter how many countries have land area or population density, animal husbandry can develop well, such as Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom. The operation mode mainly includes animal husbandry in pastoral areas, animal husbandry in agricultural areas and animal husbandry in suburban areas. The development of animal husbandry can improve animal breeds, strengthen feeding management, and improve the productivity of unit livestock, which has great production potential. It is different from ranching. Ranching is specialized, mechanized, large-scale, and has high investment. It has high requirements on the natural environment, but animal husbandry is not required.

Yield of some crops in main producing countries, average 2917-2018, tonnes per ha

Source: World Agricultural Production, March 2020, FAS USDA

At present, it is roughly divided into these six agricultural regional types in there world: rice planting, commodity grain agriculture, large range farming, mixed agriculture, plantation agriculture and animal husbandry. Each model has its own requirements in terms of climate, water resources, soil, equipment, etc., and it also has its representative countries or regions. Different planting in different countries lays a foundation for agricultural trade between different countries. Some countries or regions product rice, while others product corn. The annual grain production yield the market and price is different, and there are too many variables. In order to stabilize the market, each country will have different agricultural trade policies to maintain its own and the world's agricultural industry.

1.2. The current problems of international trade in agriculture products

Rice cultivation is concentrated in Asia. The top three countries of rice export are Thailand, Vietnam and India. Thailand ranks the first. The change of rice production in Thailand has a profound impact on the pattern of the world rice market. The Thai government introduced a warehousing policy in 1962 that forced the purchase of rice from exporters at below-market prices and directed the supply to the urban working class at a low price, a policy that was later abandoned by rice exporters. The warehousing and pawning scheme, which began in 1986, allows farmers to pledge their rice as collateral for low-interest loans if the market price falls below the government target price. When the market price was higher than the loan price, the farmers could redeem their grain at the loan price plus lower interest rates and sell it freely in the market, which later became a central subsidy in disguise. Another subsidy is the purchase of rice. Her government's rice policy, which raised the price of rice pawning, did not do enough to protect farmers. To encourage exports has been a policy in Thailand, the government would not with private businesses for restricted resources, and the government will give some subsidies and low interest rates low credit these agricultural policy in Thailand, it is good for promoting the development of the domestic rice planting industry and protect the interests of farmers, export subsidies, promote their rice exports, the government support in terms of price stability in the market, production will increase steadily provides guarantee for economic development. But some of the policies have also had a negative impact. Rising domestic purchase prices have made rice of Thailand more expensive than that of other major exporters, leading to a sharp decline in Thai exports since 2012, when it was overtaken by India and Vietnam. Excessive government intervention in the market is not conducive to the development of the economy. Although Thailand's pawnbrokers policy provides protection for farmers, it may also intervene in the market excessively, hindering the reform of its rice market.

Canada wheat varieties are mainly red spring (CWRS) wheat and durum wheat. 75% of CWRS wheat is exported, mainly for the production of bread and vermeer. The CWRS wheat exported to China is mainly used for the production of steamed bread. Durum wheat is used mainly for pasta. Canadian wheat belongs to commodity grain agriculture, relying on machinery and face the market, Canadian farms pay attention to the improvement of agricultural technology, so the single wheat yield is also increasing, and the number of farms is decreasing, but the size of each farm is expanding. Canadian wheat exports must go through the wheat board, but those sold in exchange for feed are free to go on the market. Canada has also set up grain futures exchanges to help farmers hedge their risks. Canada free-trade agreement with the United States, which largely exempts American farm products from tariffs, has also boosted Canadian wheat exports. Because of political, Canada and the United States maintain relatively close relations, as well as trade, Canada main export target is the United States.

Argentina is a country with a large area and few people. It is mainly used for ranching, cattle raising, sheep raising and poultry raising. Argentine beef is mainly exported to European and American countries, and its export beef industry occupies an important position in the world, not only in quantity but also in quality. Argentina agricultural import tariff is divided into general tariff and special tariff, the special tariff applies to the member countries of Mercosur free trade zone, and the general tariff is to China, while Argentina's main trade objects are Brazil, the United States and China. In order to increase exports, the government has lowered export tariffs. In recent years, the government has introduced a series of measures to simplify export procedures to encourage exports. But relations between Argentina's President and some ranchers soured when he introduced a policy of withholding beef exports, which reduced the enthusiasm of some farmers and reduced the output of beef cattle. Now Argentina beef exports are slowly being replaced by countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay.

Australia is a typical type of mixed agricultural region, rich in wool, milk powder, wheat, etc., farms mixed cultivation, facing the market. Australia agricultural products are known for their green and high quality, promoting sustainable agricultural development, and its export products are widely praised. Australia is good at multilateral negotiations, that opens the door to the rest of the world trade in agriculture is export-led, so countries advocate the policy of trade liberalization, the government implement three ways as the same time, the multilateral trade system, regional trade and bilateral free trade agreements, to reduce state intervention, the market liberalization. Although Australia exports most of its agricultural products, it also imports and USES tariffs to protect its industries. Australian grain technology company breeding generally takes 10 years, the company will continue to develop new varieties, and farmers signed the relevant breeding contract, the breeding of new varieties into production. Australia mixed agriculture is mainly wheat and sheep raising, its wool is recognized as good quality in the world because of the most stringent inspection process and standards in the world.

Plantation cash crops are mainly concentrated in south and central Asia. Taking natural rubber as an example, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are the main producers and exporters. The output of natural rubber producers association member countries accounts for about 92% of the global total rubber output. With the establishment of some international organizations and the establishment of each free trade zone, in the tariff of all kinds of preferences, southeast Asian countries export increased year by year, the rubber also increased. With the promotion of One Belt And One Road, China imports more and more natural rubber. In recent years, the cultivation of some natural rubber has had an increasing impact on the environment, leading to land grabs and deforestation, so production has decreased. Southeast Asian countries cooperate with each other to reach a lot of agreements, but also there is competition, governments will fight price wars, will use anti-dumping and other means, while protecting their own companies can stimulate exports. Governments around the world have introduced policies to stimulate industrial development and raised import taxes to protect domestic industries. Due to environmental and other factors, major rubber exporting countries are striving to develop agricultural technologies to grow rubber as environmentally friendly as possible.

Global food export, 2000-2017, million dollars

Source: UNCTAD

Now countries depend on each other for trade cooperation, and there is fierce competition. Governments have strengthened cooperation and exchanges, established various free trade zones to promote their import and export trade, and protected their own industries while introducing foreign capital. Nowadays the economy globalization, the agricultural products trade has many problems. In particular, agriculture is a congenital weak industry. Its weak nature determines that both the developed market economy countries and the developing countries with dual economic structure are weak in the market economy and need the macro protection and policy intervention of the government. Market economy provides unprecedented opportunities for farmers and agricultural economy, making the allocation subject, allocation means and allocation objectives of rural resources make new choices in order to obtain the best effect and avoid the idle and waste of resources, but market economy also has the side of non-optimal allocation of resources. Because the main body of the market economy is enterprises, they seldom care about the macro benefits of the society and sometimes even damage the macro public benefits while pursuing the micro benefits of the enterprises. Now I will analyze the current situation of economic globalization, the main problem of agricultural trade - agricultural trade protectionism.

Share of food exports in total exports in main exporting countries 2000-2017, %

Source: UNCTAD

The weak nature of agriculture determines that it needs macro-control from the government, both in developing and developed countries. Therefore, various countries have promulgated many measures that are beneficial to agriculture, such as the rice pawnbroking policy in Thailand, the wheat board in Canada and the natural rubber association in southeast Asia. These are internal measures, the main purpose is to enhance the enthusiasm of farmers to protect the interests of farmers, farmers in the market or natural disasters can be guaranteed. International agricultural trade has long been under the framework of GATT effective constraint, the DOHA round of negotiations has been unable to reach an agreement on agriculture, the protection of agricultural trade is much more than the countries manufactured goods, especially the developed countries, so countries increasing agricultural trade conflict, agricultural trade protectionism is becoming more and more serious. Although in the WTO, member states signed the general framework of «agricultural agreement» in the Uruguay round negotiations, which mainly stipulated the rights and obligations of WTO members and the main contents of agricultural trade rules, mainly involving market access, domestic support, export subsidies and animal and plant health and quarantine in four areas. In the «agricultural agreement», member countries are required to tariff non-tariff barriers, while reducing tariffs and increasing market access opportunities. In order to eliminate the negative impact of domestic support policies on agricultural trade, the agricultural agreement divides domestic support policies into green box policies, yellow box policies and blue box policies. The green box policy refers to the government support and subsidies that do not distort the international trade of agricultural products. There are 12 of them and they are not included in AMS. The yellow box policy refers to subsidies that distort international trade in agricultural products and is included in AMS. Blue box policy refers to some yellow box policy related to production restriction plan, which can be exempted from concessions. Each country should classify the different policies adopted in its own country, encourage the use of green box policy, control the use of yellow box policy. Although the general framework of «agricultural agreement» was signed, the specific content of the member states did not reach an agreement, the trade protectionism of agricultural products still exists.

The trade protection measures mainly include tariffs, import quotas, health and quarantine, regulations on packaging and trademarks, export subsidies and so on. Take the United States for example. The protection of agriculture in the United States is the support of prices and incomes for domestic market, mainly aimed at farmers. The United States is mainly commercial grain agriculture, so the land is fallow, which also protects the soil and promotes sustainable development. Non-recourse loans; Stock of agricultural products; Increasing export subsidies for agricultural products and expanding domestic demand; To increase import tariffs to reduce export tariffs, to ban imports on the pretext of not meeting health and quarantine standards. The United States would maintain high prices in the domestic market through trade protection to protect the interests of capitalists, while at the same time dumping surplus agricultural products on the world market due to its huge inventory, thus lowering the world market price. The US tariffs on agricultural products are higher than the total level of tariffs, providing direct export subsidies to agricultural exports, and the amount has been increased. In addition, specific countries are selected in the distribution of tariff quotas, sometimes depending on the year and product. In the non-tariff import measures, the United States implements the import license system for some imported agricultural products, and the inspection procedures and label requirements are complicated. Such excessive use of inspection and quarantine and even discriminatory practices to some extent increase the cost of agricultural products import and restrict the normal import. The United States generally requires imported agricultural products to meet standards that are «at least equivalent» to domestic products, and customs sampling and approval procedures are extremely complex, resulting in losses on imports and sales.

According to the theoretical analysis of economics, the firstly, the law of diminishing marginal benefit of agriculture, which makes the opportunity cost of agricultural production cannot be reduced proportionally with the increase of capital and the development of technology like that of industrial production, which leads to the gradual loss of the comparative advantage of agricultural products in trade and requires government subsidies or protection. Secondly, due to the non-transferability of land and the unique nature of the connection with agricultural products, the agricultural trade issues are directly related to the survival of farmers and national food security and other strategic issues, the governments of all countries should not take it lightly. Excessive protection of the agricultural industry by the state is not necessarily a good thing for the development of domestic agriculture. Agriculture also needs self-regulation of the market. Excessive intervention will also destroy the industrial balance.

1.3 The WTO Agreement on Agriculture in the world and negotiations about its development in DOHA-round

The agreement on agriculture was signed during the Uruguay round negotiations and is the most important agricultural outcome of the Uruguay round. For the first time, it has included trade in agricultural products in multilateral negotiations, mainly on market access, domestic support, export subsidies, provisions on animal and plant health measures, special safeguards and special and differential treatment. On 6 December 1993, the agreement on agriculture was finally formally adopted in Brussels and the Uruguay round of negotiations was successfully concluded. As the final outcome of the closely watched agricultural negotiations and an integral part of the package agreement of the Uruguay round, the agreement on agriculture comprehensively rewrote the rules of international agricultural trade and laid the foundation for the WTO agricultural trade system. The agreement on agriculture consists of a preamble, 13 parts and 5 annexes, and a total of 21 articles. According to the preamble of the agreement on agriculture, this agreement is mainly used to deal with the agricultural trade disputes among WTO members, establish a relatively fair and open system, prevent the market of agricultural products from being in a state of disorder, promote the agricultural trade between all countries in the world, and maintain world peace. Since its formulation, it has indeed played the expected effect. Countries have safeguarded their own interests by using the agreement content and the WTO trade dispute settlement mechanism. But with the development of The Times, gradually there are relative limitations.

The agriculture agreement increased market access through tariff reduction and tariff reduction. Market access terms are: eliminate non-tariff measures and make them tariff; Tariff cuts; Ensuring minimum market access; We will introduce special and differential treatment and relax market access requirements for developing countries. The domestic support principle is mainly the «three boxes» principle, the «green box» subsidy measures, when the government carries out a certain agricultural program, the cost is borne by the taxpayer, there is only negligible trade distorting effect, the support measures with little impact on production, and the subsidy measures with no price support to the producers. Blue box measure: refers to the support of some direct payment «yellow box measure» related to the production restriction plan, concessions and exemptions are available. However one of the following requirements must be met: (1) subsidies on a fixed area or yield; (2) subsidies on a base production level of less than 85 per cent; and (3) subsidies on a fixed number of heads of cattle. The yellow box subsidy measures refer to the agricultural subsidies that will bring a distorting effect on production and trade. There are two exceptions in the yellow box policy: 1. the exception of micro support. 2. the exception of development support. Agricultural agreement export subsidy discipline: general discipline, reduction commitment, anti-circumvention clause, peace clause. Export subsidies refer to the subsidies given in accordance with export behavior. They are the most likely policies to generate unfair competition (trade distortion), including pledge to cut export subsidies, a base period of concessions and control their expansion.

The provisions on animal and plant health measures refer to measures taken by members, that to restrict the import of certain agricultural products, in order to protect the lives and health of residents, animals and plants. As an example the United States and Japan, it mainly involves the restriction of Japan on the import of some agricultural products. In 1987, Japan ministry published two pilot testing guidelines: «guidelines for lifting import bans - auto fumigation» and «guidelines for comparative testing of insect mortality - auto fumigation», the former sets test standards for lifting the ban and the latter for approving imports of additional types of products. The United States objected to the Japanese breed testing law and deal with the dispute by WTO body in 1997. The Japanese practice of testing varieties was based on the fact that the same insecticidal methods work differently for different varieties of the same product, so it was deemed necessary to require different insecticidal methods, while the evidence provided by the United States indicated that the methods that were successful in one variety were the same for other varieties. According to the article 2, paragraph 2, technical experts agree that, despite the theoretical differences between the varieties, there is no conclusive evidence to support Japanese testing standards. After hearing the views of technical experts, the panel concluded that the measures implemented that lacked scientific basis. At the same time, Japan quarantine measures have been in place for nearly 50 years. Therefore, they cannot be called «temporary measures» as stipulated in the agreement, so Japan quarantine measures do not meet the requirements. There are many similar trade disputes. After the general framework of the agricultural agreement is signed, each member country resolves the disputes according to the content of the agreement through the WTO, which is also conducive to the development of global trade and world peace.

There is also special and differential treatment, including: the agreement relaxes the market access requirements for developing members, the average tariff concession commitment for developing members, the flexibility for developing members to set up tariff ceiling constraints, and the exemption from concession commitments for the least developed members who are also subject to tariff and tariff constraints.

But as the global economy integrated and the demand for liberalization deepened, the Uruguay round of general agreement on agriculture showed its limitations, such as not cutting domestic support and market access enough, leaving plenty of room for developed members to protect their agriculture. The Uruguay round of agricultural agreements is a return to liberalization, requiring further liberalization. The DOHA round of agricultural negotiations is a new round of agricultural negotiations based on the Uruguay round. In November 2001, at the fourth the ministerial declaration issued WTO ministerial conference in DOHA, Qatar, further defined the objectives of the agricultural negotiations, thus kicking off the DOHA round negotiations. According to the original plan of the negotiations, a negotiating model was supposed to be reached in November 2005, but so far, more than a decade into the negotiations, no satisfactory model has been reached. Due to its particularity and versatility, agriculture has once again become the focus of the negotiations. The DOHA round of agricultural negotiations has been stalled several times. So far, the consensus reached by all parties includes the framework agreement on agricultural model in 2004 and the Hong Kong ministerial document in 2005. The latest negotiating text is the fourth draft amendment to the agricultural model (December 2008), referred to as the «draft amendment to the model», which most countries have agreed to use as the basis for future agricultural negotiations. At present, the main difficulties in agricultural negotiations are as follows: 1. Market access. At present, differences among negotiators mainly SSM for developing members. From the standpoint of the developed member and the developing member of the special safeguard mechanism, there is a huge gap. Mainly including Indonesia, South Korea, India, China, dominica and other 45 members require that SSM must be simple, easy and effective, requiring a relatively low trigger level. When the import volume of agricultural products exceeds 110 of the average level of the previous three years, the SSM can trigger the imposition of additional tariffs, and the total tariff level (i.e., the current tariff rate plus additional tariffs) can exceed the Uruguay round bound tariff rate. However, the United States and the Keynes group pushed for the liberalization of agricultural trade, and advocated substantial and deep cuts in tariffs and tariff peaks, the elimination of export subsidies, and the requirement that no more than 2.5 tax items could trigger the SSM within one year. In addition, no consensus has been reached on tariff capping, tariff escalation, tariff simplification, tariff quota, tropical products, preferential erosion and other issues. 2. Domestic support, with the main disagreement centered on the U.S. commitment to reduce the amount of trade-distorting domestic support OTDS. The Keynes group, the developing members, demanded that the United States must cut the base OTDS by 75 percent to keep the OTDS constraint level at $13 billion. But the us agreed only to a conditional 70 per cent cut in OTDS to keep the constraint level at $14.46 billion, and to do so only if developing countries guarantee substantial improvements in market access. And the December 2008 agricultural model amendment draft (fourth draft), hereinafter referred to as the «model amendment draft», provides in-and-out support for specific products of the «new blue box» in the United States. In accord with «blue box» support amount limit under the condition of general requirements, the specific product of «blue box» support, in the 2002 farm «allows a specific product of the biggest legal spending ratio as the foundation, the support of each item can reach the level of spending on farm in 2002, 110 or 120 negotiators to this proportion has yet been reached, the specially set for the United States counter-cyclical subsidies exception was strongly opposed by developing members. 3. Cotton subsidies. African cotton four countries (C4) the African cotton four countries coordination group, composed of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, advocates that developed members, especially the United States, cancel cotton export subsidies and substantially reduce domestic support for cotton, requiring the United States to substantially reduce cotton subsidies. But the talks stalled after the US offered not to tackle the cotton issue until it had addressed the entire agricultural issue, and pledged not to cut any cotton subsidies until it had secured commitments to further open the agricultural markets of emerging developing members.

Per cent of total aloud support of value of production in some countries, %

Source: calculated on WTO data