HL Deb 26 June 2003 vol 650 cc45-6WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What timetable they envisage for the phasing-out of export subsidies paid by the European Union on farm products. [HL3536]

Lord Whitty

The Doha declaration commits all WTO member countries to negotiations aimed at reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies for agricultural products. The Government fully supports this commitment.

The proposal which the EU submitted to the WTO in January suggested an average 45 per cent cut in the budgetary outlay on export subsidies over six years and a permanent phasing out of some export subsidies, especially where developing country markets were affected. This is a good start but falls short of the proposal made by the chairman of the Special Session of the Agriculture Committee, Stuart Harbinson, that developed countries should phase out all export subsidies over nine years.

The negotiations are to continue in Special Sessions of the Agriculture and the fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun in September. The Government will press for an outcome on export subsidies which properly reflects the commitment in the Doha declaration.