10/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner Franz Fischler said he was "surprised" by the law on agricultural financing adopted by the US House of Representatives with a view to strengthening price-based support and counter-cyclical policies over the next ten years, despite what the Bush Administration has been saying in the context of the WTO. "I am surprised by the text (…) because it does not seem to fit with what the US has been saying in the agricultural negotiations in Geneva". The US has been saying that it "has been pursuing a line in the WTO farm talks based on its 'comprehensive negotiating position' tabled in July 2000 with the unanimous backing of the US farm industry and both sides of Congress" which indicated that "the US objective for these WTO negotiations on agricultural domestic support is to reduce substantially trade-distorting domestic support", he said. He recalled that his US counterpart, Anne Veneman, recalled last week the "importance of a market oriented safety net for (US) farmers". However, added Mr Fischler, "the US House of Representatives now seems to want the opposite".