Glickman Challenges EU on Ag Issues

March 10, 2000

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman Thursday called on the European Union at least to reduce export subsidies that may be popular but actually are "inefficient, trade_distorting and ... detrimental to healthy competition which is the lifeblood of a strong economy."

Speaking in London at the 19th European Agricultural Outlook Conference, Glickman admitted that in doing so, the EU must make "difficult choices in order to overcome the barriers that will enable strong growth and greater prosperity."

Export subsidies, he added, also "tend to work against the interests of small, less developed nations who cannot compete with the heavily subsidized commodities exported by countries using export subsidies."

The United States and Europe "are in a dog_eat_dog battle over subsidies and other trade matters," he said, "when we should be coming together to solve some of the more challenging issues facing agriculture." The United States, the EU and other agriculture producing nations "must get together and raise the level of discourse __ away from conflict and more toward resolution __ to discuss in depth the long_term implications of world agriculture policy."

He called for a "collaborative" effort, involving not only politicians but farmers, ranchers and others. "None of our farmers will prevail unless we, in the context of a rules_based world trading system, work together. I find that far too many politicians on both sides of the Atlantic spend far too much precious energy critiquing each other's policies and not nearly enough time working toward constructive compromise."

Glickman referred to China as "the elephant in the living room none of us can ignore." The Chinese have shown they understand they must commit to long_standing principles government world trade transparency, fair trade practices, peaceful settlement of disputes and, "most importantly, the rule of law," he said.

On biotechnology, Glickman said one aspect in the debate that largely has been overlooked is biotechnology's "potential to alleviate hunger and malnourishment in developing countries."

He added, "The regulatory procedures we (the United States) have in place are not only meeting the challenges of biotechnology, but we are adapting them to grow and develop alongside this new technology."

With 800 million people hungry or undernourished, Glickman said, "the current debate risks subverting a technology that can help, even save the less fortunate around the globe."