World trade dispute set to dominate farm meeting

By David Cronin

Date: 20/10/05

The world trade talks and avian flu will dominate a meeting of EU farm ministers next week (24 October) in Luxembourg, even though they are not part of the formal agenda.

Thirteen of the EU's 25 countries, including France, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Finland, Spain, Belgium and Hungary, have sent a complaint to the Commission, claiming that in the world trade talks it has not defended with sufficient vigour the interests of Europe's farmers. Ireland's Mary Coughlan accused the Commission of being "unnecessarily concessionary".

Her remarks came after Peter Mandelson, the commissioner for trade, signalled a willingness to cut the EU's farm subsidies by 70% - some 5% more than previously mooted.

Rob Portman, the US trade representative, said that he was offering "real cuts" in payments to US farmers, but the Europeanfarm lobby was unimpressed.. Agricultural lobby COPA dismissed the US proposals as a "sham".

Farm ministers are expected to discuss the spread of avian flu, which has now been confirmed in the EU's neighbouring countries of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and its possible effects on poultry farming.

The formal tasks on the agenda include decisions on the regulation of the timber trade, discussion of reform of the EU's market support for sugar and proposals to authorise certain genetically modified maize.

The fisheries part of the agenda includes a proposal to help the recovery of hake and lobster stocks off the coast of Spain and a discussion of EU-Norway relations.

Preview of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 24-25 October 2005, in Luxembourg, where ministers were to discuss the ongoing world trade talks and avian flu, even though both issues were not part of the formal agenda.