Sarnia

WTO Deal Calls For Abolishment Of Ag Export Subsidies

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation is calling the Nairobi Package the most significant outcome on agriculture in the organisation's 20 year history.

The package comes out of the WTO's Tenth Ministerial Conference which wrapped up in Nairobi earlier this month.

The WTO's Roberto Azevedo says the biggest part of that package is a commitment to abolish export subsidies for farm products.

The conference wrap-up statement says a number of countries are currently using export subsidies to support agricultural exports.

According to the WTO, the legally-binding Nairobi decision would eliminate those subsidies and prevent governments from reverting to trade-distorting export support in the future.

The WTO's developed members have committed to remove export subsidies immediately, except for a handful of agricultural products.

Developing countries have until 2018 to remove those subsidies.

The WTO statement says the Nairobi Package includes disciplines to ensure that other export policies are not used as a disguised form of subsidies.

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