Naslov
Measuring State Intervention in Croatian Agriculture

Autori
Franić, Ramona ; Berak, Zdenka ; Gelo, Ružica

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, pregledni

Izvornik
European Agriculture Facing the 21-st Century in a Global Context / - Varšava : European Association of Agricultural Economists, 1999

Skup
European Agriculture Facing the 21-st Century in a Global Context

Mjesto i datum
Varšava, Poljska, 24.08.1999. - 28.08.1999

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
agricultural policy; state intervention; protection; support

Sažetak
Since the World War II till Croatian independence, Croatian agriculture faced with enormous problems starting with its inferior role compared with industry. Recent war damages (after 1991) additionally ruined situation in agricultural resources and incomes. At the time of socialistic regime, all activities regarding agriculture were negligible and non-incentive. There were some agricultural policy measures, such as compulsory purchase or compulsory livestock fattening or Law on purchase prices, but those were not supported measures. The main intention of these measures was to ensure food security. Later were established inefficient measures such as guarantee and minimum purchase prices and subsidies oriented to protect state companies. During 1970s and at the beginning of 1980s the Government introduced a kind of "production and selling prices" as well as protective prices of agricultural and food products. "Production and selling prices" had to be created on the basis of average production costs of state-owned companies, price trends on the world market and demand and supply relations on domestic market. However, impact of the world prices remained insignificant. At the end of 1980s the strong agricultural price control was reduced and Government prescribed prices only for the most important products. After attaining independence, Croatian Government accepted the Strategy for development of Croatian agriculture and defined agriculture as one of the basis of overall economy. Therefore, there is intention to protect domestic producers from stronger West-European agriculture and to stimulate its competition; at the other hand policy decision makers are faced with international trade organisations requirements for reducing domestic protection and liberalisation according to market laws. That means that state intervention measures can not be made temporarily and without respectation global (domestic and international) interests. That requires basic knowledge about measuring intensity and effects of intervention. Until 1994, when Croatian government started negotiation for accession to international trade organisation, there was no need to measure total domestic support and assistance in agriculture. Therefore, international and domestic agroeconomics experts made the first calculation on the basis of Nominal and Effective Protection Rate (NPR, EPR), Producer Subsidy Equivalent (PSE) and Effective Rate of Assistance (ERA). The aim of this paper is to analyse the results of these indicators use in evaluation of state intervention against basic agricultural and processed products in the regime of domestic support (system of quaranteed prices and subsidies). The special attention will be put on specific problems arisen during the calculation of these indicators, starting with data collection. Finally, suggestions regarding methodology use will be given as well as recommendation for creating basis for further agricultural policy decision-making. The results of measuring of state intervention in last few years show that the most important program was market support, which represents total effects of market price support and trade protection. Regarding government programs, the main contribution was given through production subsidies. The analysis shows that wheat and corn producers and recently sugarbeet producers received main benefits. Total benefit for oilseeds was rather small, while beef and milk were actually taxed. Significant transfers to food processing sector were notified to meal and sugar processors, recently oil industry (for sunflower, soybeen and rapeseed oil, while the production of oilmeals was taxed). To make these estimations more reliable, and the methodology more easy to apply, it is necessary to resolve problems which appeared during the calculation. The biggest problem is domestic economic statistics that does not publish all necessary data. Therefore, transport and processing costs are mostly estimated which diminish its reliability; input prices are gathered by interviewing some of domestic agricultural state companies which probably does not reflect average costs for great majority of family farms. All these problems are caused because of poor relations between market participants as well as untransparency of informations. Resolving of these problems would simplify calculation and interpretation of protection and assistance indicators. Results also show lacknesses of agricultural policy such as lack of regional approach and income disparities. New legislatives anticipate reducing direct payments linked with production and introducing area payments, investment aid and selective payments. Considering actual problems in adjustment of domestic state intervention measures to requirements of liberalisation process, simultaneously with domestic farmers' and processors' requests, it seems that intervention should be oriented on improvement of domestic quality, increasing competition, improvement of promotion activities for domestic goods and searching adequate market channels to international consumers.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Poljoprivreda (agronomija)

POVEZANOST RADA