The Uruguay Round began a process of reinforcing rules and liberalising trade in temperate agricultural goods. Developing countries in aggregate are likely to benefit eventually, but much work still has to be done and some states and socio-economic groups may face significant adjustment problems.
They need to engage in the next Round of multilateral negotiations to press for the changes that would be most advantageous for them, and to adopt appropriate agricultural strategies. Development policy can assist them to play a strong, positive role, while ensuring that adjustment problems are recognised and dealt with and that the new agreement helps them exploit their comparative advantage.