Biofuel policies in the United States and the European Union affect mostly the grains and oilseeds sector, but Brazil’s hugely important ethanol sector uses mainly sugar cane and could in principle thrive without support policies. Government support policies make world market prices of these products (and their substitutes) substantially higher than they would be, while mandates add to price volatility by creating demand that is less responsive to prices. Whereas trade between OECD countries accounted for 58% of world agricultural trade in 1999, by 2009 that share had fallen to less than half.