AGRICISTRADE: Project description
The on-going negotiations on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements between the EU, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the accession of Russia to the World Trade Organisation in 2012 and the establishment of a Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in 2011 are expected to boost trade relations between the European Union and its Eastern Neighbors in the long-run. The aim of AGRICISTRADE is to accompany these developments by analyzing the potential impact of these trade agreements and by delivering insights on the potential developments of the food, feed and biomass sectors in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.
Therefore, AGRICISTRADE has been structured around 4 research objectives:
- Improve the understanding of the agri-food sector performance in the context of relevant policy measures at stake in the 8 countries covered by the project;
- Better understand the causes of untapped agricultural production potentials and suggest pathways for enhancing yields, land use and competitive performances;
- Explore current and possible future developments in agricultural supply chains as well as developments in the different types of usage;
- Enhance the analytical framework for future scenario assessments of medium- and long-term developments of the agri-food potentials and trade in order to understand what role the 8 countries could play in European and international exchanges.
AGRICISTRADE will develop a comprehensive statistics and policy information database, further used to monitor the sector structure, market and policy situation, and to assess current performance. The database and evaluation results will provide input for projections on agricultural potential and implications for international trade, with a specific focus on trade relations between the EU and the 8 countries of interest. In that goal, the project will use a variety of analytical tools combining economic and biophysical models. These project results will contribute to a fact-based and well-informed dialogue among EU policy makers on possible impacts of a DCFTA on CIS agricultural development potentials.
Detailed information is presented at the web-site of the project http://agricistrade.eu/.