Brussels, 05/06/2001 (Agence Europe) -The European Commission welcomes the "intelligent" American decision to eliminate quotas on European wheat gluten, whose unfairness is recognised by the WTO (see EUROPE of 29 December 2000, p.20 and 13 January 2001). The Union, which had for a few months undertaken to compensate itself by carrying out a re-balancing of concessions, will now cease imposing customs duties on wheat gluten from the United States, specified the Commission spokesperson in a Communiqué released over the weekend.
The Commissioner responsible for Agriculture, Franz Fischler, is "pleased that this trade irritant is now behind us". "This is the second problem relating to an agricultural product which has been resolved (the first of course being bananas) within a few months". A prorogation of the measure denounced by the WTO would have constituted, according to him, "a very bad signal for the bilateral relationship". It is importance, for his counterpart responsible for trade, Pascal Lamy, "that the use of safeguard measures be subject to the strict conditions set out in the WTO, and it is good to see this particular problem being rectified sensibly", "further evidence that trade problems between the United States and the EU can be resolved in a practical manner", he added.
The Union cereal starch industry is obviously relieved to see the disappearance of the safeguard measures - unjustified from the outset - that restricted access for its products to the American market since 1998. However we regret that this decision was not taken in the time given by the procedural rules of the WTO, that is to say just after the publication of the final ruling by the appeal body in Geneva, it says in a press release. The AAC (Association des Amidonneries de Cereales de l'UE) is satisfied to see that the United States now wants to respect their international obligations, and adds: we support their efforts as well as those of the EU to work together to improve trade relations, both in the bilateral and multilateral framework.