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US welcomes new EU farm reforms, wants WTO talks
USEFUL IMPETUS:
Lawmakers in the US said they were optimistic about the most comprehensive farm subsidy shake-up in 45 years, but they still hope for more action
REUTERS, WASHINGTON
Saturday, Jun 28, 2003, Page 12
The US welcomed a new EU farm reform package on Thursday, but called on Brussels to follow it with new negotiating proposals in WTO agricultural talks.
"The next critical step is for the EU to promptly translate today's decision into meaningful WTO proposals," US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said in a joint statement.
They also expressed hope that last-minute compromises to strike the farm deal did not effect "the EU's ability to contribute to global reform in agriculture."
The EU farm package "could be a useful impetus to the WTO negotiations" if the EU makes ambitious proposals for reducing trade-distorting domestic support, cutting agricultural tariffs and eliminating export subsidies, Zoellick and Veneman said.
Senior US lawmakers said the EU reforms might not be enough to move WTO negotiations forward.
"I am still reviewing the details, but this plan clearly does not appear to go as far as it should," said Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat.
The EU has been on the defensive in WTO farm negotiations, with the US and most other countries proposing deeper cuts in farm subsidies and tariffs.
EU governments, including early anti-reformer France, hailed the deal reached on Thursday in Luxembourg as one of the most comprehensive shake-ups of the hugely expensive 45-year-old Common Agricultural Policy.
EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy told a US business group in Washington the reforms would give the EU new flexibility in WTO talks if the US and other trading partners put their own farm programs on the table.
"The farm bill cannot go untouched," Lamy said, referring to legislation signed last year by US President George W. Bush that boosted US crop and dairy subsidy payments by US$57.1 billion over six years, or 67 percent.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said: "The United States has been, and remains, ready to negotiate real agricultural reforms at the WTO."
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