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Eu makes farm concessions to save wto Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/12/18/afx2399911.htmlhttp://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/12/18/afx2399911.html
AFX News Limited
WTO MEETING - Draft text 'acceptable' to EU - Mandelson
12.18.2005, 06:59 AM
HONG KONG (AFX) - EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said a WTO draft text on global trade liberalization was 'acceptable' to the European Union.
'The text is acceptable,' Mandelson said following the release of a draft ministerial statement on trade that calls for the abolition of agricultural export subsidies by the end of 2013.
'Today, Europe has gone further on its existing commitment by setting a clear date, 2013, for the elimination of export subsidies,' Mandelson said.
'We have demanded and received equivalent movement from the other countries. While the outcome of Hong Kong is not a great success, this move of ours is enough to save it from failure. Europe has shown leadership when others were unable or unwilling to do it.'
He added that the EU council of trade ministers had likewise endorsed the text, presented on the last day of a six-day conference of WTO trade ministers.
The 2013 date had been advocated by the EU, with the US and Brazil voicing a preference for 2010.
Agreeing on a proposed date for scrapping farm export subsidies in industrialized nations, seen as preventing farmers in poor countries from competing effectively on world markets, has been one of the most contentious issues before the ministers here.
An EU-US dispute on the date had threatened the outcome of the Hong Kong gathering, with the EU -- which provides substantial assistance to its farmers -- initially resisting the mention of a precise year despite heavy pressure from the US and developing countries.
Mandelson stressed that eliminating farm export subsidies was conditional on steps by other countries to remove trade-distorting practices.
The EU has complained that US export credit and international food aid programs amount to a disguised subsidy to US farmers and has also urged reforms to monopoly trading enterprises in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The draft text calls for 'disciplines' to be applied to export credit, export credit guarantee and food aid schemes by April 30, 2006.
The document is considered a roadmap to be used by WTO ministers in 2006 as they seek to put the finishing touches on a multilateral trade liberalization accord by the end of next year.
That agreement was called for by WTO ministers meeting in Doha, Qatar, in late 2001. Subsequent talks have foundered, principally on the issue of agricultural export subsidies.
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