Chambliss: Doha Round Must Produce Good, Strong Agreement for U.S. Agriculture

Chambliss: Doha Round Must Produce Good, Strong Agreement for U.S. Agriculture

June 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today joined U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns in a news conference at the U.S. Capitol to show support for a comprehensive World Trade Organization Doha agreement. Schwab and Johanns will be attending the June 29 - July 3 trade negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, where they will push for a result that is good for U.S. agriculture.

"Those of us who are involved in agriculture who want to see the Doha Round move forward in a very positive way are very excited and very pleased about these two folks going to Geneva to once again represent us," said Chambliss. "Make no mistake about it -- we are not as a country going to unilaterally disarm when it comes to reaching a final agreement in the Doha Round. Ambassador Schwab is exactly right -- Ambassador Portman made a very aggressive proposal back in October, and what did we see in response to that proposal? A very weak, a very un-meaningful, an un-comprehensive proposal, frankly, coming from the European Union.

"Today, the EU pays more than twice as much money in domestic support payments as we pay to farmers in America. Their tariffs are more than twice the tariffs on agriculture products going into their countries as the tariffs are on agriculture products coming into the United States. It's their opportunity now to come forward with something that is meaningful. It's only right and it's only fair that if we're going to make an aggressive proposal like has been put on the table that we see reciprocation from the other side and frankly to this point in time we haven't seen that," Chambliss said.

"Ambassador Schwab is very savvy on agriculture. She is a tough negotiator, and we are confident that she is going to continue down the road set forth by Ambassador Portman to make sure that we do have a meaningful and comprehensive agreement when we come out of this Doha Round -- or we're not going to have an agreement at all. We want to make sure we do everything possible to try to achieve an agreement, because it is important to America's farmers and ranchers in the future as well as for the short term that we have a good strong agreement in the Doha Round," Chambliss added.

Additionally, Chambliss was asked about the message he would like to see delivered with regard to cotton. Chambliss said, "Cotton needs to be treated fairly and equitably, just like every other crop. Simply stated, we are not going to accept any early harvest provision relative to cotton."

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