Agriculture and Fisheries Policies between International Regimes on Trade and the Environment

This project examines how international obligations emanating from environmental and trade regimes, and the interaction between them, affect selected aspects of Norwegian domestic and foreign policy making on agriculture and fisheries and Norwegian positi ons in WTO negotiations in those two sectors. Because Norway and Switzerland have been exposed to similar pressures from international trade and environmental regimes, yet have opted for different policies on important aspects of agricultural policy, the project will include a comparison with Switzerland. The disciplinary bases for this project are political science and economics. The research questions pursued in the project?s five work packages (WP) are: (1) To what extent and how have international tr ade and environmental regimes, including their interaction, affected Norwegian livestock policy making, and what can this tell us about Norway?s future policy scope if an amended WTO Agreement on Agriculture is adopted? (WP1 and WP2) (2) To what exent and why have international regimes affected Swiss and Norwegian livestock policies differently, and how can such differences be explained? (WP2) (3) What are the economic, structural and environmental effects of selected agricultural policies that are affect ed by present and future WTO requirements? (WP3) (4) To what extent and how do international trade and resource management regimes, including their interaction, constrain Norwegian trade-related measures to effectively enforce fisheries conservation rules in the Northeast Atlantic, and how can Norway?s room for maneuvre be maximized? (WP4) (5) What are the roles and positions taken by Norway in WTO negotiations on issues central to the agricultural and fisheries sectors; and how can we account for the ext ent of Norwegian goal achievement? (WP5) Four work packages will proceed by means of case study methodology, whereas WP3 will conduct economic modelling by means of the agricultural sector model CAPRI.