This paper studies the relationship between export policy and food prices. It is shown that, when individuals are loss averse, food exporters may use trade policy to shield the domestic economy from large price shocks. This creates a complementarity between the price of food in international markets and export policy. Finally, it is estimated that a 1 per cent surge in global restrictions increased international food prices by 1.1 per cent on average during 2008-10. These …findings contribute to inform the broader debate on the proper regulation of export policy within the multilateral trading system.