The project “Effects of Trade Liberalization on Agriculture in Selected Asian Countries with Special Focus on CGPRT Crops (TradeLib)” was formulated based on general concerns regarding on-going trade liberalization policies adopted by both WTO and non-WTO members. The project was funded by the Government of Japan outside of the Japan ESCAP Cooperation Fund as a three-year collaborative research project. The project operationally started in April 1997 with ten countries in Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam. One driving force of the trade liberalization policy of a country is its commitments under the international trade organization and multilateral economic groupings.