Media releases
Tuesday, 16 July 2002 - MVT077/2002
OECD Report Shows Encouraging Signs
Australian coarse grain and dairy exports are expected to do well
over the next five years according to the OECD’s Agricultural Outlook
2002-2007, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said today.
Mr Vaile said today’s report, which provides a medium-term assessment
of future trends in the major agricultural commodity markets of OECD
countries, contained some encouraging signs for Australian farmers.
“The report foresees Australia doing particularly well in exports
of coarse grains (grains other than wheat) and dairy, while a weak
Australian dollar will continue to contribute to the competitiveness
of other Australian commodity exports,” Mr Vaile said.
“The report also praises Australia’s deregulation of the dairy industry,
predicting that Australia’s 20 per cent share of global dairy trade
should be maintained over the 2002-2007 period, despite a recent fall
in both cow and dairy farm numbers, following market deregulation.
According to the OECD deregulation should improve farm productivity,
bring benefits to remaining farmers and improve the competitiveness
of Australia’s dairy industry on international markets.”
The OECD’s Agricultural Outlook 2002-2007 predicts a gradual
rise in world agricultural prices as the global economy improves in
the latter half of 2002. It also projects an increase in global agricultural
trade, with the steepest rise in dairy exports, followed by cereals
and meats.
“But the report is not all good news,” Mr Vaile said.
“It underlines the continuing negative impact of high levels of support
and protection in OECD countries (estimated at US$311 billion in 2001)
on agricultural markets. It clearly warns that any slowdown or reversal
in reform could put sustained recovery at risk – a risk that will
have greatly increased following the recent finalisation of new US
farm support (US$180 billion over the next 10 years), the effects
of which the report does not consider.
“I raised these concerns with the European Commissioner for Trade,
Pascal Lamy, earlier today when we discussed reform of global farm
support through the WTO agriculture negotiations and the mid-term
review of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
“The OECD report provides further ammunition against those countries
who continue to support their farmers at the cost of efficient producers
such as Australian farmers.”
Media Contact: Mark Croxford +61 02 6277 7420
Local Date:
Friday, 21-Nov-2008 16:30:16 EST
