USA Rice Applauds WTO Framework Agreement, but Questions Enforcement of Previous Trade Agreements

Washington, DC, August 6, 2004 — The USA Rice Federation today congratulated U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Agriculture Secretary Veneman on the Framework Agreement for the WTO trade talks that was reached in Geneva earlier this month.

“This agreement ensures that negotiations for agricultural trade liberalization will continue and that negotiators will focus on cutting high tariffs and maintaining an adequate safety net for producers” said Lee Adams, USA Rice Federation chairman, and president of American Rice, Inc. “U.S. negotiators also succeeded in removing language that would have had a very negative impact on the continuation of U.S. humanitarian assistance programs. These programs are critical to the U.S. rice industry,” continued Adams.

“For the first time, we have recognition among all WTO members that larger cuts in trade-distorting domestic supports must be made by countries with the highest levels of such support, said Louisiana rice producer Paul “Jackie” Loewer Jr., chairman of the USA Rice Producers’ Group, a charter member of the USA Rice Federation. “However, the lack of specific market access gains to be achieved means that U.S. negotiators will have to work doubly hard to bring home a balanced final agreement that includes real and measurable gains in foreign market access,” added Loewer.

“Despite this positive move towards a new global trading agreement, the U.S. rice industry remains very concerned that our trading partners are not living up to past agreements,” said Carl Brothers, chairman of USA Rice’s international trade policy committee, and senior vice president, Riceland Foods Inc., a Stuttgart, Ark., based farmer-owned cooperative.

“The U.S. rice industry is currently struggling, for example, to maintain the U.S. rice market in the EU following the EU’s recent decision to unilaterally withdraw the margin of preference concession, an important achievement of the Uruguay Round. We are also defending ourselves against Mexico’s attempts to rollback the NAFTA, and we are still waiting for meaningful market access in Japan. Can we ask U.S. rice farmers to support new trade agreements, no matter how well negotiated, without the assurance that past trade agreements will be honored and enforced?” concluded Brothers.

The 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 industry profitability for all industry segments. For more information, visit www.usarice.com

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Bob Cummings Vice President, International Policy USA Rice Federation