Reforming agricultural trade among developing countries

It is commonly perceived that much of the initiative for removal of
distortions in trade in agriculture has to come from the developed world. This
generalization is not valid across all agricultural products, in particular for
tropical products that are predominantly produced in developing countries and
constitute a large share of their exports. It emerges that export of most of these
products suffers not because of barriers in advanced countries, but from those
in the developing world. This implies reciprocal benefits from growth in
counter-trade if developing countries agree on more stringent trade liberalization
measures for them. Cotton, sugar and bananas are important exceptions; they
face trade barriers in some developed economies, so they deserve specific
attention of trade negotiators.