Veneman Sees Bridge-Building Needed on Trade

September 6, 2001

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman believes a new round of multilateral agricultural negotiations can lead to a global agreement on trade if the necessary bridges are built through dialogue with nations that differ with the United States on how far trade should be liberalized. Veneman met with reporters in her Washington office within hours of her return from three days of meetings with Cairns Group ministers in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

She said developing countries, for example, often do not have the necessary infrastructures in place to meet the import demands of developed countries. Ministers from developing countries talk about "capacity building" -- developing their capacity to facilitate trade with infrastructures that satisfy the demands of importing nations. Developing nations, she added, want assistance from other countries to develop these systems.

Veneman said the purpose of the November meetings of the World Trade Organization in Qatar is to get talks started, not to negotiate a new international trade agreement. Veneman's tone during the news conference indicated strongly that the process could be a long one. She noted that the United States and the Cairns Group nations agree on agricultural issues to be resolved during multilateral WTO talks, but other nations, notably India and the European Union, do not agree with the positions the United States and the Cairns Group share.

To overcome that, she added, relationships must be built and "good, constructive dialogue" conducted to see how far each side must go to reach an agreement.

Veneman and U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick spent Sunday through Tuesday at the 22nd Cairns Group ministerial meeting to plan for the WTO ministerial conference to be held in Doha, Qatar, this November and meet with ministers of some of the countries attending the Cairns Group meeting. The Cairns Group was a close ally during the Uruguay Round negotiations that led to the historic Uruguay Round Agriculture Agreement.