16 May 1995

AUSTRALIA TO CONTINUE PUSH FOR WORLD AGRICULTURAL REFORM - McMULLAN

Addressing the Fifth World Congress of the International Agribusiness Management Association in Paris today, the Minister for Trade, Senator Bob McMullan, said Australia will continue pushing for reform of world agricultural trade.

In his speech, Senator McMullan set out an agenda to build on the agricultural trade liberalisation which came out of the Uruguay Round, and said he will discuss this agenda with his Cairns Group colleagues when they meet in Manila next week.

"The Uruguay Round laid the ground for a complete overhaul of the way agriculture is treated in international trade," Senator McMullan said.

"However, it is only a first step, and a modest one at that, because the compromises and deals which had to be made have limited its extent," Senator McMullan said.

"Beyond the Uruguay Round, the Cairns Group will be working to encourage further change in the policies of the world's major economies.

"There are glimmers of hope of a reappraisal by the major economies of their domestic farm policies.

"The US Farm Bill presents a landmark opportunity for a fundamental reorientation of US agricultural policy, given that the core programs of US agricultural support arrangements originated in the post-Depression environment of the 1930s.

"There is a similar reform challenge ahead for the European Union, where the Common Agricultural Policy consumes more than half of the EU's annual budget.

"Thr EU is in a unique position, with the ongoing enlargement to the East, to move agriculture in a more efficient direction.

"In the same vein, the international community waits for evidence that Japan will more seriously tackle the need for deregulation and structural adjustment of its agricultural sector."

Senator McMullan said that, for Australia, there will be no new Round without agriculture on the agenda.

"Some key objectives for a further Round, which I will be discussing with my Cairns Group colleagues, include:

• a commitment to further substantial reductions in, and broader coverage of the types of, domestic support which are subject to reductions
• the phased elimination of export subsidies
• and further expansion of market access - expanding quotas, and reducing tariffs. "The Cairns Group has set itself an objective to encourage the world community to continue with the process of agricultural reform.

"If successful, this will establish the environment for freer agricultural trade.

"This, in turn, will lead to a healthier agri-food industry which would be able to make a greater contribution to global prosperity by providing the food people want at a price more of them can afford to pay," Senator McMullan said.

Senator McMullan will chair a meeting of the Cairns Group in Manila, the Philippines, on 26-27 May. The new head of the WTO, Mr Ruggiero, will attend the meeting.

Further information: John Flannery, (06) 277 7420

Bob McMullan Minister for Trade Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600 Tel: (06) 277 7420Fax: (06) 273 4128