Commodity Market Review 2005-2006

The purpose of the biennial publication Commodity Market Review (CMR) is to analyse in depth a set of issues relating to agricultural commodity market developments that are deemed by FAO as current and crucial for its member countries, from viewpoints of both the developed, as well as the developing countries. One of the main reasons for the lack of progress in the period following the Uruguay Round, as well as the slow progress in the current Doha Round negotiations, can be attributed to the insistence of several producing and trading countries on exempting some so-called sensitive and special agricultural products from whatever disciplines are agreed upon in the Doha Round. The articles included in this CMR deal with both cross-commodity issues, such as criteria for special products and appropriate rules for special safeguards, as well as particularities of individual commodities, such as rice, sugar, dairy and others that are regarded as sensitive or special for several countries.