United push for farming reform

By Greg Ansley

Cairns Group chairman Mark Vaile welcomes the trade declaration by Apec ministers as a powerful lever to force more agricultural reforms through a new World Trade Organisation negotiating round.

Targeting European Union farm protection, Mr Vaile said a strong declaration by the 21 economies would carry weight into the round.

Key areas for agricultural trading nations included the calls for the elimination of export subsidies, a three-year deadline on WTO negotiations and the proposed acceleration of the liberalisation of sectors such as fish and forest products.

Agreement to embrace all issues on the WTO agenda as a single package was also a critical breakthrough that kept agriculture at the forefront of a new round and out of the too-hard basket.

Mr Vaile said the fight to end export subsidies would be given new muscle by a united Apec push within the WTO.

"The message coming out of this meeting is that with a commitment by more than 50 per cent of world trade represented by those economies within Apec, we expect to see movement in that area.

"If we expand that and we were to include the accession of China and Chinese Taipei into the WTO - and they are also committed to the abolition of export subsidies - then the strength of that call is becoming much, much stronger.

"We realise and don't underestimate the challenge and the task ahead in this particular regard."

Mr Vaile added: "We've got to continue to apply the pressure because of the unbelievable distortion in agricultural markets across the world from some of the subsidisation that takes place as far as agricultural commodities are concerned."

A determined Apec push against export subsidies would help a number of European countries unhappy at the limits placed on EU farm reform by the Agenda 2000 programme, he said.

"We want to give as much ammunition to those people as we possibly can."