Farm export subsidy cuts pledge

The European Union's Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, has insisted that the EU is ready to abolish agricultural export subsidies worth about €3.2bn a year, in return for similar concessions by more advanced developing countries on industrial tariffs. His comments were partly in response to a scathing report by Oxfam (see Related URL) criticising the EU and the United States for continuing to make large payments to their farmers.

European Commission: Speech: SPEECH/05/358 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/05/358&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Oxfam: Policy and Analysis: Policy Papers: Briefing Paper: A round for free - How rich countries are getting a free ride on agricultural subsidies at the WTO http://www.maketradefair.com/en/assets/english/aroundforfree.pdf

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