... examination of the CAP will be found in John Marsh and Christopher Ritson. Agricultural Policy and the Common Marktt
Overseas Development Institute
Farmers and Foreigners Impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on the Associates and Associables
Frank Ellis John Marsh Christopher Ritson
Independent developing Commonwealth countries outside Asia have . 'been offered association with the European Community. Some of these Associables' may choose a package trade and aid deal on the lines of the present Yaounde Convention, under which nineteen states, mainly in Francophone Africa - the Associates - are linked with the Community. Some may opt for an arrangement confined to trade; others may prefer to avoid association altogether. In making their decision, the Associables will be particularly concerned to see how various types of association affect access to the Community for their agricultural commodities, which in almost all cases account for an important proportion of their export earnings. Farmers and Foreigners provides basic data on the significance of the Community (of Six and of Nine) as a market for the Associates' and Associables' agricultural goods, and analyses the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on this market. It shows that the Community has been ready to give relatively favourable treatment to Associates for CAP products compared with that given to other non-Community suppliers, but not at the expense of its own producers. So long as farm incomes in the Community are supported by a system of high prices, little improvement is likely in the prospects for exporters of CAP products. A change in this aspect of European agricultural policy seems unlikely before the present round of association negotiations is complete. There is room, however, for Associates and Associables to argue for a shift in the balance of price support to improve access for their agricultural exports. Farmers and Foreigners indicates areas of flexibility. Frank Ellis is Research Officer at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. John Marsh is Reader in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Management, University of Reading. Christopher Ritson is Lecturer in the same Department.
