Agriculture and Food and Beverage GVC Policy Considerations

Abstract

The days of thinking about trade policy in terms of tariff barriers at the border increasing the cost of packing things in boxes and sending them to the final consumer are long gone. Modern regional or global economic integration is characterised by fragmented international production networks, where intermediate goods and services cross numerous borders before ending up with the eventual user. These global value chains (GVCs) are highly dynamic. They change rapidly in response to changing customer preferences, technological change and shifts in supplier-buyer power relationships. This poses challenges for traditional policy and business strategy development.