Canada calls for end to export subsidies

20 August 1999

Canada calls for end to export subsidies

Canada has called for the elimination of export subsidies and a sharp
reduction in domestic farm supports in the forthcoming round of World
Trade Organisation talks.

But it said its controversial marketing boards should not be a
subject for negotiations.

Canada joins the US in calling for the elimination of export
subsidies and the reduction of trade-distorting domestic support
payments for farmers.

But Canada, the worlds second largest grain exporter after the US,
is facing demands from Washington to modify or abandon the Canadian
Wheat Board, the agency that handles all wheat and barley exports.

The US says the board negotiates deals that undercut US farmers. The US
also wants greater access in sectors such as dairy and poultry that are
protected in Canada through a domestic supply management system.

Canada is among the first of the large agricultural nations to spell
out in detail its negotiating position for the next round of trade
talks, scheduled to be launched in Seattle at the end of the year.