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WTO Members commit themselves to notify all domestic subsidies that can endanger the fairness of international trade. Yet, many countries pay only lip-service to this self-imposed obligation. Why? Promoting a level playing field in international trade is the core task of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

A report from a Missouri-based research organization debunks the claim that Missourians are saving money through a state law requiring that retail gasoline contain a minimum of 10% ethanol. The report is in reaction to an assertion by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Association (MCMA), alleging that Missourians will save more than US$ 285 million through the E-10 mandate in 2008, and nearly US$ 2 billion over the following decade.

A report published by the World Bank adds to the literature on modeling distortions to the agricultural sector by recommending an approach that it claims is better tailored to developing countries.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) criticizes a number of Canadian subsidy programmes, but particularly its support to farmers, in a new economic survey. In the last six years Canada has backtracked from earlier moves toward liberalizing its agricultural sector, to the detriment of most Canadian farmers, according to the OECD. 

During the 1990s, Malawian farmers experienced a rough transition from government policies that controlled and supported the agricultural sector, such as fertilizer subsidies and price stabilization, to a more liberalized agricultural policy environment.

Bill Moyers hosted a documentary on the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that follows several Washington Post reporters as they investigate farms subsidies in the United States. The 2006 Washington Post investigation resulted in a series of articles that uncovered vast flaws in U.S. agricultural subsidies.

The FiFo Institute for Public Economics of the University of Cologne has applied a template developed by the GSI for notifying subsidies to the World Trade Organization (WTO), using Germany as the test case.

Indirect public subsidies to political parties in the UK have increased substantially over the last several decades, according to a study by the Policy Exchange think tank. These indirect payments to political parties include free political broadcasts, allowances to member of parliament, and costs associated with special advisors and aids.

A paper by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) cautions that the reluctance by some WTO Members to strengthen rules against subsidies to small fishing vessels threatens to undermine a potential agreement that would discipline fisheries subsidies that contribute to overfishing. As part of the on-going Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, subsidies to the fisheries sector have been given special attention.

The Australian government spent A$ 95 million on biofuel production and consumption in 2006–07, according to the latest country study by the GSI on government support to biofuels. That cost could grow to several hundred million dollars a year by the end of the decade if planned new ethanol and biodiesel capacity comes on-line over the next two years.