§ Mr. EdwardsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government is taking to stop the practice whereby subsidised crops are grown in America and in EU member states and are subsequently dumped on African countries. [135062]
§ Hilary BennThe Government acknowledges the damaging impact that dumping and trade-distorting subsidies have on developing countries' agriculture sectors. We fully support the commitment made at the Doha Ministerial meeting in 2001, which agreed that agriculture negotiations would aim to achieve: substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support.
The UK has long advocated the reform of the CAP to reduce its trade distorting impacts and to enable farming in Europe to become more sustainable and market focussed. The deal agreed by EU Agriculture Ministers on 26 June this year marks a significant shift in the EU's agricultural policy. The decoupling of subsidies from production should connect European farmers much more closely to the market and have real impacts on reducing excessive production, which results in dumping and harms developing countries. Proposals for reform to other EU commodity regimes, including cotton have been submitted and are currently under discussion.
The UK is committed to ensuring real reductions in OECD agricultural subsidies, as well as to making progress in other areas of concern not only to African developing countries. These include improving market 502W access for agricultural products and establishing fair rules for special and differential treatment to safeguard food security and rural development in Africa.