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Mandelson threatens European Agriculture

24 October 2005

 

Jim Allister this week has criticised the stance taken by European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and believes that the whole of the agricultural industry throughout Europe is being but in the balance in an attempt to get a WTO deal.  Jim Allister has called on the Agricultural Commissioner to ensure that any concessions in European funding of agriculture can be catered by the recent reform of the CAP.

 

Jim Allister commented, “Clearly Peter Mandelson is trying to get new markets for European goods and service exporters in the WTO talks and is willing to sacrifice agriculture to get a deal.  There is no chance of European agriculture competing with other regions of the world like South America if Mandelson succeeds in his proposals by removing both tariffs and subsidies.

 

“When selling the recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, farmers were informed that it was to prepare Europe for the current WTO talks.  It is vital that the Agricultural Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel defends the interests of European farmers and ensures that further reform of the CAP is not required in order to meet a WTO deal.

 

“In order to secure a future for Northern Ireland agriculture, it is also vital that there is some protection from import tariff cuts for sensitive products.  It is vital that these sensitive products include dairy, beef, pork and poultry.”

 

 

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Agriculture and Environment