Trade Acronyms

This list includes many common acronyms related to agricultural trade. You’ll find more detailed definitions of many of these terms in our Trade Glossary.
Do you have ideas for acronyms we should add? Please contact us.

A

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AD – Antidumping

AGOA – African Growth and Opportunity Act

AMS – Aggregate Measure of Support

AoA – Agreement on Agriculture

APHIS – USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

ASEAN – Association of Southeast Asian Nations

ATPA – Andean Trade Preferences Act

AVE – Ad Valorem Equivalent

B

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BIT – Bilateral Investment Treaty

C

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CAFTA-DR – Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement

CAP – Common Agricultural Policy (in the EU)

CBI – Caribbean Basin Initiative

CFTA – Canada Free Trade Agreement

CVD – Countervailing Duty

D

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DDA – Doha Development Agenda

DET – Deferential Export Tax(es)

DSB – Dispute Settlement Body (in the WTO)

DSU – Dispute Settlement Understanding

E

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EC – European Commission

ERS – USDA’s Economic Research Service

EU – European Union

F

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FAO – United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization

FAS – USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service

FDI – Foreign Direct Investment

FTA – Free Trade Agreement

FTAA – Free Trade Area of the Americas

G

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GATT – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

GDP – Gross Domestic Product

GI – Geographic Indication(s)

GSP – Generalized System of Preferences

H

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HS – Harmonized System (Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System)

I

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IMF – International Monetary Fund

IPR – Intellectual Property Rights

K

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KORUS – Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement

L

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LDC – Least Developed Country

M

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MERCOSUR – Southern Common Market

MFN – Most Favored Nation (treatment)

MOU – Memorandum of Understanding

N

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NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement

NAMA – Non-Agricultural Market Access

NER – Nominal Exchange Rate

NFIDC – Net Food-Importing Developing Country

NGO – Non-Governmental Organization

NTB – Non-Tariff Barrier

NTM – Non-Tariff Measure

NTR – Normal Trade Relations

O

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OECD – Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

P

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PNTR – Permanent Normal Trade Relations

PTA – Preferential Trade Agreement

R

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ROO – Rules of Origin

RTA – Regional Trade Agreement

S

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SPS – Sanitary and Phytosanitary

SRM – Specified Risk Material

SSG – Special Safeguard

SSM – Special Safeguard Mechanism

STE – State Trading Enterprise

T

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TAA – Trade Adjustment Assistance

TBT – Technical Barrier to Trade

TPA – Trade Promotion Authority

TPP – Trans Pacific Partnership

TRIMS – Trade Related Investment Measures

TRIPS – Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights

TRQ – Tariff Rate Quota

TTIP – Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

U

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URAA – Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture

USAID – United States Agency for International Development

USDA – United States Department of Agriculture

USITC – United States International Trade Commission

USTR – United States Trade Representative

V

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VAT – Value-Added Tax

W

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WB – World Bank

WFP – World Food Program

WTO – World Trade Organization

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