Angara calls for fair trade in agriculture

The liberalization of the agriculture sector should start with the world's most powerful economies whose farm subsidies and market restrictions have gravely prejudiced the agriculture sectors of the Philippines and other developing countries, Team Unity senatorial candidate Edgardo J. Angara today said.

Angara issued the statement in reaction to the World Bank recommendation to the Philippine government, which called for the liberalization of five economic sectors, agriculture among them.

"Philippine agriculture has liberalized enough. It has adhered to the World Trade Organization-mandated tariff cuts on agricultural products and the tariff cuts mandated under the Asean Free Trade Agreement. It has one of the lowest agricultural tariffs in the region," said Angara.

Angara said that Filipino farmers have complained against the dumping of cheap agricultural imports into the country which has been going on for years due to the low tariffs on agricultural imports.

Angara said that the big push for agricultural trade should come from developed economies whose disagreement over subsidy cuts and farm sector liberalization has been the major impediment to the success of the Doha Round of WTO talks which was started in Doha, Qatar in 2001 to further liberalize global trade, principally in the agri sector.

Angara said that the United States and the member-countries of the European Union have been clashing over farm subsidy cuts and this has practically stalled the Doha Round of talks.

Angara said that the developed economies pour some $1 billion per day in farm subsidies while developing nations have been denying their farming sectors real support.

The developed nations have tariff barriers and non-tariff restrictions that heavily restrict the entry of agricultural exports from developing countries such as the Philippines, said Angara.

"A more liberal trading regime in agriculture has to start with major initiatives from the world's most powerful economies and not countries such as the Philippines which have been religiously following WTO-mandated tariff reductions," said Angara.

During his term as agriculture secretary, Angara fought for "fair trade" even as he skillfully used whatever bargaining leverage he can raise to negotiate for better trading terms with other countries.

In one of these negotiations, Angara restricted the buying by Filipino cattle growers of feeder cattle from Australia after Canberra refused to allow the entry of Philippine bananas and pineapples into the Australian market.

"Fair trade in a free trade context - this should be the official government policy," said Angara.