The Union is prepared to accept further cuts in direct subsidies on farm exports…

Date: 26/10/00

... provided other countries agree to lower other forms of support to exporters, the European Commission said this week. The EU is pushing for negotiations on future cuts to cover less obvious forms of support, including the US' massive export credit programme and some countries' state trading boards. "On the condition that all forms of export subsidisation are treated on an equal footing, the EU stands ready to negotiate further reductions in export subsidies," said the Commission in a strategy paper this week. The paper will be presented at a World Trade Organisation meeting on liberalisation in December.