Brussels, 14/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has undertaken to check whether American grants for oilseed production infringe commercial exchange rules, as European producers claim. Interested parties will be able to contribute to this procedure, which was launched on Thursday under the Trade Barriers Regulation (TBR), and which could result in a request to Geneva for arbitration by the end of the summer.
The aid, condemned by the European Oilseed Alliance (EOA) on behalf of French, German, British, Spanish and Swedish producers, takes the form of guaranteed loan rates and marketing loans, and direct payments and contracyclic payments (which take account of global price fluctuations), which can be granted this side of the Atlantic under the new American law dubbed Food Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA). This aid infringes WTO rules, argues the EOA, in that they: 1) are similar to grants categorically banned by the multilateral agreement; 2) benefit from no exemption from Geneva as it is presented as aid to a specific base product superior to that decided in the 1992 marketing campaign; 3) have led to "serious" damage to European producers, as these grants have noticeably pushed world prices and, consequently, Community prices down (with low or non-existent customs duties due to the Transatlantic Agreement from Blair House). The Alliance is also contending that imports have increased in relation to Community production (14 million tonnes on average in the period 1999-2002, representing over 3 billion euro), and that Community oilseed producers' revenues have fallen drastically, states the Commission. The Europeans feel that "the application of WTO rules in the agricultural sector goes towards the Community's general interests', and it is therefore "in the interests of the Community to commit to a prosecution".
European Parliament plenary session