No Export Subsidies by 2010, Says Kleckner

December 2, 1999

American Farm Bureau Federation President Dean Kleckner says export subsidies will have been eliminated 10 years from now and that "should result in a multitude of opportunities for our farmers." Farmers will be able to compete against each other, not against governments and politicians, he adds.

The remarks came in a keynote speech Wednesday at the Seattle ministerial agricultural forum. Farmers, consumers and workers from around the world will benefit from new global agricultural trading rules that prohibit market-distorting barriers and other restrictions to commerce, he said.

"We should create a system that gives all citizens of the world access to food," Kleckner said. "For farmers, we must create a system that prohibits barriers and restrictions that distort world markets and send false production signals. If we are successful, it will result in benefits such as more high paying, export related jobs and a reduction in world poverty."

When farmers no longer are forced to compete against commodities made cheap by government subsidies, "a multitude of opportunities" should result. "New doors will be opened. The wheat farmer in Washington State as well as the grower who raises tropical fruits in the Caribbean will benefit."