 In Depth
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12/13/2005
Lousy offer on Agriculture at WTO
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As a European , Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former Danish Prime Minister, said that the European offer on reducing agricultural subsidies is just not good enough. Lousy was the word he used.
Put simply European and other developed countries had given the equivalent of $55billion to help poor countries wipe out heir debt but then had given more than $300 billion to themselves to subsidise domestic farming. This is simply not a serious approach to development and Commissioner Mandelson and the EU need to go back to the drawing board.
At various meeting in Hong Kong coinciding with the WTO ministerial Conference Rasmusssen has been making a plea for a social agreement as the counterpart to the trade agreement. He argues that is what all countries should try to do at the national level and the need is just as great at the international level.
As the Conference started it appeared that there is little hope of settling anything except the date of the next meeting unless there is a real change in the attitude to agricultural subsidies.
But who knows what arm twisting can go on over the coming days.
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