This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
The United States has proposed aplan to reform international trade rules for farm products. TheUnited States is proposing to cut government assistance to Americanfarmers. In exchange, it wants other countries to make deep cuts intheir agricultural spending.
The proposal comes two months after President Bush signed a majorfarm bill. The new law increases government aid for farmers. It isestimated to cost one-hundred-ninety-thousand-million dollars overthe next ten years. Critics say the measure forces down world cropprices and reduces the money earned by farmers in developingcountries.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman described the new proposal lastmonth at a meeting of agriculture ministers in Nara, Japan. Theministers were from the United States, Canada, the European Union,Australia and Japan.
She said the proposal would end all government assistance forfarm exports over five years. The United States also urged othercountries to cut taxes on food and agricultural imports. MizzVeneman said the world average for such taxes is sixty-two percent.She said the proposal would reduce the tax rate to fifteen percent.It also would result in no tax higher than twenty-five percent.Currently, the average American tax on imported farm products istwelve percent.
The proposal also would limit government aid for farmers to fivepercent of the value of a country’s agricultural production. TheUnited States currently spends nineteen-thousand-million dollarseach year on such farm aid programs. The proposal would reduce theamount to ten-thousand-million dollars.
For the European Union, the decrease in farm aid would be evengreater. It would drop from more than sixty-thousand-million dollarsto twelve-thousand-million dollars a year. In Japan, the amountwould drop from thirty-three-thousand-million dollars tofour-thousand-million dollars a year.
E-U and Japanese officials have criticized the American proposal.They say it requires a great deal more effort from other countriesthan from the United States. However, the top farm officials fromAustralia and Canada expressed general support for the Americanposition. American farm groups also expressed support for theproposal.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.