Title: Presentation Older Workers Seminar Belguim, 25 Oct
1A Stocktaking of OECD Work on Subsidies
Outi Honkatukia OECD Secretariat
2Background
- OECD countries committed to reducing subsidies...
- yet only modest progress over the years
- ? OECD Ministerial mandate 2001
3OECD work on obstacles to policy reform
- Take stock of the ongoing work on subsidies
- Identify environmentally harmful subsidies
- Analyse experiences in subsidy reform
- Develop policy recommendations
4Caveats
- Different methodologies
- Data gaps
- Different countries
- Different years
5Keep the caveats in mind when looking at the big
picture
Billion USD
6Support to agriculture is high...
- but it is also the sector with the most
complete data - 311 billion USD in 2001
- 1.3 of GDP 31 of the value of farm receipts
7Modest change in the level of supportPSE
8and in the composition of support.
9Other sectors pale in comparison
1) Transport USD 40 billion in road and rail
subsidies in Europe 2) Energy producers USD
20-30 billion, of which USD 5 billion for
coal 3) Manufacturing USD 22 billion in the
EU 4) Fisheries USD 6 billion
10Support to coal production has decreased over
time...
11but not if we look at support per tonne of coal
produced
12What other data sources are there?
1) System of National Accounts 2) WTO Agreement
on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures 3) EU
State Aid Survey 4) National sources (e.g.
Productivity Commission)
13To conclude
1) Progress made in the measurement and analysis
of subsidies 2) Significant gaps remain 3)
Stocktaking exercise important for setting
priorities and advancing the debate