The agricultural trade policies of developing countries have not been much of an issue in international debates because the prevailing view is that most of them tax their agricultural sectors. Nevertheless, it is not clear what type of agricultural trade policy should be followed in the course of development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the trade policy issue in the context of overall trade policy in a post-GATT economic environment, for countries that are characterized by a dual economic structure, a large agricultural sector and a large degree of poverty among the population. The arguments will be made for the case of the Philippines, an economy that fulfils the above criteria, and also a country that is currently attempting to increase its economic growth to match the pattern of other Southeast Asian newly industrializing economies. After looking at the country background, the paper describes an appropriate methodology, presents some empirical results and draws conclusions.