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 AgTrade Coalition Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 12, 2003 CONTACT: Curt Mercadante Corn Refiners Association, Inc. Washington, DC, USA curt@corn.org 202-331-1634 (from USA) 001-202-331-1634 (from Mexico) 'We Will Not Unilaterally Disarm' WASHINGTON, DC - "We will not unilaterally disarm our farmers," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, during a press conference held at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial in Cancun, Mexico. "Europeans are subsidizing their farmers up to six times more per acre than here in the U.S.," added Goodlatte. "They're going to have to come down to meet us before we're going to go down any further." The press conference was held by the AgTrade Coalition, a U.S. coalition of more than 100 commodity, processor and agribusiness organizations that support further liberalization in agricultural trade through the WTO. Sarah Thorn, director for agricultural trade, moderated the press conference. Senator Max Baucus, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, addressed the issue of trade harmonization between developed and developing countries. "We may have to look for new ways encourage developing countries to lower their trade barriers," said Baucus. "Perhaps if they are helped to reorganize their internal tax structures so that their economies are not as reliant on tariff income, they will be more likely to remove these barriers." Baucus also agreed with Rep. Goodlatte in stating that the U.S. would "not unilaterally disarm" its farmers. Tom Suber, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, addressed the issue of the European Union's attempts to implement regulations related to geographical indications. Suber said this issue could have a severe economic impact on the U.S. agricultural economy. "The U.S. is the world's largest cheese consumer," said Suber. "If implemented, these proposed regulations would restrict the ability of American dairy farmers and cheese producers to sell products that may carry the name of a region of Europe. Some examples of cheeses would be Parmesan, Feta, Asiago, and Cheddar." Dean Kleckner, chairman of Truth about Trade and Technology, also addressed the issue of geographical indications. "The whole issue of geographical indications is about protectionism," said Kleckner. "Proposing these regulations is short-sighted on the part of the Europeans." # # # |