Europe knows subsidies doomed - but not yet

By LIAM DANN

Federated Farmers president Tom Lambie has returned from the International Federation of Agricultural Producers conference in South Africa optimistic that European attitudes to export subsidies are changing.

The conference, which included a dairy roundtable debate on the needs of developing countries, was an opportunity to explain to farmer representatives from 32 nations how New Zealand had coped in an unsubsidised environment, he said.

In the presence of delegates from Third World countries such as Zambia and Uganda our argument was well received and stimulated the debate, Lambie said.

The Europeans argued that they had a real need to manage their farming systems with subsidies.

"But at end of a day they had to acknowledge that their policies were having a significant effect on people around the world and they were going to have to change ... very reluctantly," he said.

It was a powerful force to have countries in the room together for the first time speaking up on the impact dumped produce had on their markets, he said.

The IFAP is the only international body with nationally representative farming organisations from around the world.