• General Country and Agricultural Information
• Exchange Rates
• Trade Barriers
• Regulatory Considerations
• U.S. Trade Representative Issues
• World Trade Organization (WTO)

 
General Country and Agricultural Information

• Agricultural Market Access Database (AMAD), Economic Research Service, USDA - The database contains data for WTO members. It is based in MS Access and Excel. It includes tariff schedules and rates.
• CIA World Factbook - Contains information on geography, demographics, economic, transportation, transnational issues, communication infrastructure, governmental structures, maps and other basic information on more than 200 countries or regions.
• Country-of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) Briefing Room, Economic Research Service, USDA.
• Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) -  Established in 1948 for the purpose of economic development in Latin America. Includes trade statistics and major companies in Latin America.
• Global Growth, Macroeconomic Change and U.S. Agricultural Trade, Economic Research Service, USDA, 2007 - This report highlights the global growth and shifts in foreign economic activity that affect U.S. exports.
• Immigration Visa Services, U.S. Department of State - This site provides information about visa policy and procedures for visitors planning to travel to the United States.
• InfoNation - A two-step database that allows you to view and compare the most up-to-date statistical data for UN members.
• International Agricultural Trade and Policy Center, University of Florida - Contains information and links to the World Bank, USDA, WTO, United Nations, Organization for Economic Cooperation Development and Association of Caribbean States, among others.
• International Data Base (IDB) - A computerized data bank containing statistical tables of demographic and socio-economic data for 227 countries and areas of the world.
• International Trade and Food Safety: Economic Theory and Case Studies, Economic Research Service, USDA, 2003 - This study examines the conceptual relationships between international trade and food safety. Food safety related trade disputes are possible due to the differences in food safety regulations and standards among countries.
• MHR International Meat Directory - Links to companies throughout the world in all meat categories.
• Passport Services, U.S. Department of State.
• Prospects for Agricultural Markets 2004-2001. Update for EU-25, Trade Agreements, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative - This database has a listing of regional and bilateral trade agreements with the United States.
• Structure of the Global Markets for Meat, Economic Research Service, USDA, 2003 - This abstract reviews global trade for poultry, beef and pork. Trade among countries is affected by production resources, meat type preferences, trade barriers and industry structure.
• Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets, U.S. Department of State - This site provides travel warnings, alerts and country specific information for U.S. citizens traveling abroad.
• USDA Foreign Ag Service - Listing of all FAS offices across the world.
• World Calendar and Time Zones - Site has all the official holidays and celebrations for most countries in the world. Provides calculators to figure time zone differences.

 Exchange Rates

• Agricultural Exchange Rate, ERS, USDA - This dataset contains annual and monthly data for exchange rates important to U.S. agriculture. It includes both nominal and real exchange rate for 80 countries (plus the EU) as well as real trade-weighted exchange rate indexes for many commodities and aggregations. All series are updated monthly. Data series start at the beginning of 1970 and run to the last available current monthly information, which is typically two months behind the current date.
• Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Daily exchange rates featuring noon buying rates in New York, certified by the New York Federal Reserve Bank for customs purposes.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF) - The IMF is an international organization of 184 member countries. It was established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability and orderly exchange arrangements.
• Policy Analysis Computing and Information Facility in Commerce (PACIFIC) - This service provides access to current and historic daily exchange rates through an online database retrieval and plotting system. Also provided is a list of all the currencies of the world with information on each country's exchange rate regime and ISO-4217 currency code. Analyses and trend projections of the Canadian dollar, the U.S. dollar and the Euro are available as well.

Trade Barriers

• Market Access Strategy, European Commission.
• Trade Compliance Center, U.S. Department of Commerce - This center provides government assistance in resolving trade barriers or unfair situations in foreign markets.
• United States Trade Representative - This includes the latest reports on trade policy and foreign trade barriers issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Regulatory Considerations

• Codex Alimentarius - The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by FAO and WHO to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program. The main purposes of this program are protecting the health of consumers, ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations. Within the United States, Codex activities are coordinated by officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.  
• USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) - Protecting America's animal and plant resources by safeguarding resources from exotic invasive pests and diseases, and resolving and managing trade issues related to animal or plant health

U.S. Trade Representative Issues

• USTR Agricultural Trade Issues
• USTR, Agreements Negotiated by the United States Trade Representative

World Trade Organization

• Agricultural Market Access Database (AMAD), USDA - A collection of data and information for WTO members. It primarily consists of tariff schedules, tariff bindings, country notifications, import quantities, applied tariff rates and other data useful in tariff analysis. The database currently contains data for 50 countries, including documentation and examples. AMAD results from a co-operative effort by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, EU Commission–Agriculture Directorate-General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and USDA–Economic Research Service.
• Cairns Group - Explains the WTO perspective of the members of the Cairns Group.
• European Commission’s WTO Home Page - The EU trade philosophy outlined with a note from EU Commissioner F. Fischler.
• USTR Home Page on WTO - Explains USTR policy on WTO trade agreements.
• World Trade Organization Briefing Room, Economic Research Service, USDA.
• WTO’s Agriculture Agreement - The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA) marked a turning point in the history of the multilateral trading system by subjecting agricultural trade to essentially the same rules that discipline trade in industrial goods. For the first time, WTO members committed to reducing agricultural tariffs, export subsidies, and domestic support. With the signing of the Doha Ministerial Declaration in November 2001, negotiations to continue reforms begun by the URAA are now underway.
• WTO’s Home Page - Updated news for the WTO, as well as a database search for WTO agreement.

 Links checked May 2008.