Harkin Cites Errors in WTO Cotton Case Decision
HARKIN CITES ERRORS IN WTO COTTON CASE DECISION
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) said today's decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) failed to correct errors and misinterpretations contained in the initial WTO panel's decision, which found U.S. cotton income and export programs in violation of international trade agreements. Harkin is the ranking Democrat of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
The government of Brazil originally filed this case in September 2002, asserting that the U.S. cotton income support and export programs provide excessive subsidies to U.S. cotton producers, encourage overproduction and depress the world cotton market to the detriment of producers in Brazil and elsewhere. The initial panel's decision last summer supported Brazil's claims for the most part, prompting this appeal by the United States.
"Regrettably, this latest ruling failed to correct the initial WTO panel's mistaken interpretations of U.S. farm programs, how they operate and their impacts on commodity production and world trade," Harkin said. "It is far more preferable to settle disputes over agriculture and export programs through WTO-wide negotiations rather than through litigation. This case will only raise the stakes in the current WTO round of negotiations."
Harkin continued, "While the bulk of this case centered on U.S. programs benefiting cotton, the decision presents a genuine challenge to the range of current U.S. commodity and agricultural export programs. Clearly, the WTO decision underscores the critical need for our nation to look to the future and to maintain and strengthen programs that are permitted under the WTO Green Box', such as conservation and rural economic development, in addition to defending and negotiating over farm commodity programs. It appears Congress will eventually have to re-examine all commodity and export programs that are deemed to be production, price or trade distorting."
http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=232847