USA Rice Federation Statement on the Suspension of WTO Trade Negotiations

ARLINGTON, VA, July 24, 2006 — The USA Rice Federation today expressed its full support of U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in the face of the suspension of multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round.

“Amb. Schwab and Secretary Johanns are to be commended for standing with the U.S. rice industry by insisting that a Doha agreement provide U.S. farmers and exporters with real and measurable market access gains in order to justify cuts in U.S. farm programs.

“Despite press releases and rhetoric, it is clear that the market access offers by the European Union and several other WTO players are illusions and will not result in a real expansion in trade. They simply don’t stand up to the aggressive U.S. proposal tabled in October 2005, and the administration was right to stand firm.

“Our trade negotiators will now shift to intensive bilateral discussions with other WTO members to determine where a convergence of interests may exist. USA Rice remains committed to achieving a multilateral trade agreement that is fair, results in meaningful increases in trade, and addresses key bottlenecks to exports of U.S. rice. We will continue to support the administration in this effort.

“Today’s suspension of the negotiations also calls into question the ability of the administration to negotiate, and Congress to approve, a multilateral trade agreement before the expiration of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in mid 2007. As U.S. negotiators strive to obtain a solid agreement for the U.S. rice industry, it is critical that the president be given the tools he needs to negotiate the best agreement possible. This means that TPA must be renewed.

“The USA Rice Federation commends the Bush administration for standing up to calls for unilateral U.S. concessions and for defending the interests of U.S. rice producers and exporters. We appreciate that our negotiators remain ambitious and know when to walk away from a bad deal.”

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Contact: Bob Cummings, (703) 236-1473, rcummings@usarice.com

USA Rice Federation is the national advocate for all segments of the rice industry, conducting activities to influence government programs, developing and initiating programs to increase worldwide demand for U.S. rice, and providing other services to increase profitability for all industry segments.