A special issue of the journal Food Policy builds systematic empirical foundationsfor assessing Asian dairy markets, with their new consumption patterns, changing industries, and trade prospects under different domestic and trade policy regimes. The issue presents case studies of China (Fuller et al., 2005), India (Rakotoarisoa and Gulati, 2005), Japan (Schluep Campo and Beghin, 2005), and Korea (Lee, Sumner, and Ahn, 2005), and two other papers that look at recent and future regional patterns of consumption (Dong, 2005) and integration of Asian dairy markets in world markets through trade policy reforms (Peng and Cox, 2005). In this briefing paper I distill the findings of these investigations and integrate them with the existing economic literature, drawing policy implications and identifying lessons for countries outside of Asia.