TRADE LIBERALISATION :IS THE PRICE OF FOOD AFFORDABLE FOR THE POOR?

JULIET PORTILLO In Trinidad and Tobago the governments past and present has attempted to make the price of certain food items more affordable for the poor. Through the removal of VAT from certain food items it is hoped that some relief is given to the poor. According to John Nash and Donald mitchell the best ways to put food on the tables of the poor would be to remove protectionist barriers. A few years ago when the price of local chicken rose due to an increase in the price of grains, the population cried 'foul' the government was forced to consider removing barrier on the importation of foreign chicken chicken producers locally, protested that they will be forced to shut down their business resulting in loss of jobs. How do you off-set something like that? The government was forced to shelve that idea. Who benefits from trade liberalisation when developing countries cannot withstand those types of external shocks? By lowering applied tariffs on food product imports in order to mitigate adverse effects on small producers who have limited resources to adjust, safety nets are needed. What?