The comprehensive volume entitled Agricultural Subsidies in the WTO Green Box provides an encyclopedic overview of the many different dimensions of the ongoing debate over green-box programs and decoupled support for agriculture in the WTO. With twenty-three individual papers addressing nearly every aspect of green-box support for agriculture, the volume provides a deep and highly specialized examination of the history of agricultural trade policy reform and the ongoing debate over decoupled support and its myriad effects on developed and developing countries. It goes far beyond the typical treatment of this critical policy issue and delves deeply into several important dimensions of the policy issues surrounding decoupled support for agriculture, including environmental concerns, region-specific considerations, and, perhaps most important, the likely future course of decoupled support. The comprehensive nature of the volume is made apparent by the fact that the volume's editors went so far as to include the actual text of Annex 2 of the Uruguay Round WTO Agreement on Agriculture to serve as a fundamental reference point around which to frame this debate.

For the benefit of anyone who is not aware of the finer points surrounding this important policy debate, it may be helpful to briefly review and frame the issues. Considerable progress has been made over the post-war period in reforming barriers to international trade. This is true even in the most highly protected of industries – agriculture. Among other things, the Uruguay Round WTO Agreement on Agriculture (URAA) in 1994 established a set of guidelines for the reform of domestic support. In doing so, it defined a special category of subsidies that were to be largely exempt from the commitments to reduce domestic support because they were deemed to be non-trade-distorting or, at most, minimally trade-distorting. The exact guidelines that defined such ‘Green-Box’ support were outlined in the aforementioned.

Annex 2. As is noted at many places in the volume, many observers believed such green-box support represented the future of agricultural policies around the world. The notion of ‘decoupling’ domestic support and moving toward subsidy mechanisms that were not tied to current production or prices appealed to many as being a way that governments could continue to provide subsidies to politically powerful constituents, while at the same time minimizing the distortionary impacts of such policies on global markets and adhering to policy reform commitments. Many of these same observers saw such moves toward green-box support to represent an important and determined effort toward reform that would characterize the path of future policies. In the case of the US, many believed such decoupled support to represent a transitory ‘buy-out’ of agricultural interests. Alas, any such illusions were quickly dashed when low market prices triggered large ad-hoc payments to farmers in the US. The temporary nature of decoupled payments has become open to question as the US Congress has extended and enhanced the payments through two subsequent Farm Bills. The timing of the volume is opportune. Deliberations over the 2012 Farm Bill have begun in the US and the likelihood of decoupled payments being continued is currently a topic of significant debate.

The volume opens with a nice historical perspective on green-box support by Stancanelli, who represented Argentina in the URAA negotiations. This and the subsequent paper by Hepburn and Bellmann provide very detailed discussions of the mechanics underlying the Uruguay and Doha Rounds of WTO negotiations. The material, though often complex and difficult to navigate, is invaluable for anyone researching the path used to arrive at present policies. Various chapters then address county-specific issues pertaining to green-box support and the WTO. Orden, De Gorter, and Tutwiler address various US policy issues, while Swinbank, Ant'on, Chatellier, and Cavero tackle issues pertinent to the EU perspective. De Gorter's analysis is especially interesting in that he evaluates a number of important distributional aspects of green-box subsidies. Xie and Oduro address green-box issues relevant to China and African countries, respectively. The role of green-box support in Japan is reviewed by Honma, Ant'on, and Yamashita. An interesting observation is that individual countries (and authors) have very different views regarding the role and impact of green-box support. Clear distinctions are made between developed and developing country interests. One strong opinion is that green-box programs essentially address developed country concerns and interests while ignoring programs and policy concerns in the developing world. As several authors point out, this has led to increased scrutiny of the use of these programs by developing country governments.

Perhaps the most timely and important chapters in this volume are the ones that look forward and consider the likely future of green-box support. Important contributions in this vein are offered by Cerda, Cavero, Tutwiler, Yamashita, and de Camargo Neto and Henz. Cerda considers mechanisms for improving the monitoring of green-box policies as they become increasingly prominent fixtures in agricultural policies. Cerda notes that increasing proportions of subsidies are being characterized as green box and that the bigger concerns pertain to poor compliance with existing policies rather than a lack of policy criteria to characterize and regulate green-box support. Cavero focuses on future policy reforms for the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). A case is made for a greater focus on policies that would be perceived to enhance social welfare, such as environmentally sound land management and rural development. Tutwiler notes a ‘retreat from decoupling’ in the US and points out that rising budget deficits may be the greatest factor forcing future reforms. Yamashita discusses internal Japanese politics and the extent to which they may hinder agricultural policy reforms in the future. The volume concludes with a chapter by de Camargo Neto and Henz that outlines a strategy for green-box policies that are compatible with sustainable development. As the authors note, the green box is the core of the permanent domestic support disciplines in agriculture because other subsidy programs such as those making up the amber box are defined by exclusion.

As one looks forward, one important consideration involves the increasingly prominent role played by biofuels. Josling and Blandford address the relationship between biofuel subsidies and green-box support. An increased policy focus on biofuels has had significant impacts on world markets for the principal grain and oilseed crops in recent years. Prices have reached record high levels and markets remain volatile. Josling and Blandford review the biofuel policies of the US, the EU, and Brazil. They address the applicability of WTO regulations on biofuel policies and provide a lucid discussion of the likely treatment of ethanol subsidies under the WTO going forward.

This volume should prove invaluable for anyone seeking an encyclopedic and comprehensive coverage of current issues relating to green-box support. The sheer volume of material in this collection is staggering and may be somewhat daunting for anyone looking for a quick overview of a specific issue. That said, the book is comprehensive in terms of its coverage of the issues from all possible perspectives. Country-specific viewpoints are provided and the developing versus developed country distinction is addressed from many angles. The most interesting parts of the book are those chapters that address the future course of green-box policies. Tighter budgets, a greater focus on sustainability, and the increased prominence of biofuel subsidies are all given careful treatment as factors likely to shape the future of the green box.

I highly recommend the book to scholars of agricultural policy as well as to policymakers interested in the intimate details associated with the WTO green box. The papers presented by this distinguished panel of experts provide an invaluable resource that previously did not exist in any single place.