U.S. at Odds with EU on EU WTO Objectives

November 10, 1999

The administrator of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service says the European Union hasn't adequately defined its objectives yet for the upcoming Seattle round of the World Trade Organization talks, and the United States is dead set against at least one of those objectives.

Tim Galvin, FAS administrator, says the United States considers the EU's "precautionary principle completely unacceptable and a very negative development." Essentially the precautionary principle seeks to define how much science is needed to overcome food safety concerns, a relative measure at best that could allow the EU the luxury of deciding no amount of science ever could assure the safety of certain foods, such as those from biotechnology.

But Galvin and Isi Siddiqui, special assistant to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman for international affairs, spent much of the time in a Tuesday news conference touting the benefits of trade for U.S. farmers and the agribusiness community.

To illustrate the need to reduce government production supports further in the upcoming round of talks, they said Japan, during 1996-98, provided $4,510 per acre to its farmers on average. In South Korea the production support total was $3,975; for the EU, $324 and $34 per acre for the Unites States.

As a percent of gross farm receipts on average during 1996-98, Switzerland provided 69% in production supports, Korea 65%, Japan 63%, the EU 39% and the United States 17%.

They also provided a state by state breakdown of the benefits of trade among the 50 states. On a commodity basis, they said 81% of U.S. sunflower seed oil is exported as are 46% of U.S. rice, 46% of corn oil, 42% of wheat and 36% of soybeans. Of U.S. food products with more than $1 billion in export sales, soybeans ranks highest at $6.1 billion followed by feed grain at $5 billion, red meat, $4.4 billion and wheat at $3.8 billion.