INTERNATIONAL POLICY ON AGRICULTURAL TRADE--A PROPOSAL FOR BUTTER.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to traverse all the reasons why the EEC proposals have not so far been seriously considered in the GATT or elsewhere. One important reason, however, is that although general objectives have been suggested, neither the French nor the EEC have yet attempted to elaborate in detail exactly what would be the content of an international agreement for any of the main products concerned. Until this is done it seems unlikely that any significant progress can be made towards establishing a reasonably clear basis of negotiation in the GATT about the terms on which trade in agricultural products is to be carried on. Even a demonstration, as a result of detailed study, that commodity agreements of the kind broadly outlined by the EEC are unlikely to be more satisfactory than the present position, would help to clear away much of the existing uncertainty. In this article I shall therefore attempt to continue the discussion by showing how the EEC ideas might be applied to trade in butter, long recognized as perhaps the most 'difficult' of all the temperate foodstuffs as regards liberalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]