Int’l - US joins with global dairy alliance on market access
Published:April 4, 2006
Source :Farm Weekly
The fight to open international dairy markets took a major step forward this week when the US dairy industry signed with the Global Dairy Alliance (GDA) in a joint letter to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) setting out conditions on elimination of export subsidies and market access issues.
This is being hailed by Australian negotiators as a significant advance for dairy in the current WTO Doha Development Round negotiations.
Signatories to the letter are the GDA (representing the dairy industries in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and Uruguay) and the US National Milk Producers Federation and Dairy Export Council.
Australian Dairy Industry Council Chairman Allan Burgess confirmed the importance of this move that sees the USA working alongside the GDA countries on this issue.
The letter details arrangements for the removal of export subsidies together with parameters for meaningful improvements in market access for dairy products.
It has been sent to WTO Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy together with the Chairman of the Agriculture Negotiations Committee, Ambassador Crawford Falconer.
"For the Australian dairy industry, improved access is the key to the Doha negotiations, and this letter enhances significantly the weight of advocacy for our position on market access ", Mr Burgess said.
He said the Australian dairy industry considers access more important than export subsides because market access is permanent whereas the benefits from the removal of export subsidies are dissipated over time by market factors.
This development comes at an important time in the negotiations with the deadline of April 30, 2006 for determining the key parameters for the overall negotiations.
WTO member governments are working under considerable pressure to achieve that deadline with dairy a major problem area.
Mr Burgess said the Australian dairy industry stands prepared to do whatever it can to assist the process and has devoted considerable resources to trade policy, including the GDA over the course of the Doha negotiations.
