CBI calls for cut in agricultural subsidies
As mass protests continued outside the World Trade Organisation summit in Cancun, Mexico yesterday, ministers came under increasing pressure to reform their policies on agricultural subsidies.
Farmers in the ‘Group of 21’ developing nations, which include Brazil, China and India, say that the subsidies provided to farmers by Europe and the US are stifling their ability to compete in the international market.
An estimated $24bn is lost to poorer countries each year as a result of subsidies.
Rich nations are reluctant to abolish subsidies, however, and insist that developing countries must implement broad legal and commercial reforms.
Kofi Anna, secretary general of the United Nations, said, ‘Sadly, the reality of the international trading system today does not match the rhetoric’.
The Confederation of British Industry has called upon Europe and the US to respond to the demands of developing nations and cut their subsidies in order to ‘win the case’ for free and fair global trade.