Transcript
25 May 2009
Interview - ABC Country Hour
Subjects: US dairy export subsidies
SIMON CREAN: Well this is the retaliatory spiral that we warned of when the EU was embarked on its activation of subsidies. Now we see the US joining the fray. This is something that can't happen if Doha is concluded. So it's more motivation to conclude Doha. But secondly, it really hits at one of our really big and successful export industries.
REPORTER: What are you going to do about it?
SIMON CREAN: We've already made significant representations in the US. We will keep those representations up. In the meantime, we need to get a firmer fix because this detail is not yet out of which markets the US is targeting. We'll also be talking very closely with the dairy producers in this country to get a better handle as to where they are most vulnerable.
REPORTER: And what is the subsidy that the US is introducing?
SIMON CREAN: It's a rebate for export into certain markets. The amount of that rebate unknown at this stage. The target of the markets, unknown at this stage. That's the detail that we've still got to try and work our way through.
REPORTER: Europe and the United States have both introduced subsidies again. It sounds like it's not really going very well.
SIMON CREAN: Under Doha, these subsidies can't be activated in the future. The whole of the G20 exercise has called for the end of protectionism. What these subsidies do is to generate the protectionist spiral.
REPORTER: So, with both Europe and the US putting on subsidies again, you talk about the Doha round, but do you think that the talks and the discussions with the representatives from those two regions have basically failed?
SIMON CREAN: No, I think that we've got to make sure that the talks succeed, that they conclude. We're 80 per cent of the way there. We've got to bridge the 20 per cent gap. But in the meantime we've got to raise the pressure at the political level and really highlight the fact that this measure, this reaction by the US, is completely contrary to the decision that the G20 leaders took in London. The aim now is to ensure the impact of these measures don't hurt our dairy farmers, as much as we can do that.
REPORTER: Won't it be the case though that the prices for dairy, the commodity price for milk will simply fall right away now that the US has introduced it again?
SIMON CREAN: That's the potential, but it depends on the markets that they are seeking to target, and the quantities in question. It depends on how hard the Europeans go in. That's what we don't know at this stage. What we do know is that the intention to activate the program runs a very serious risk of significant market distortion.
REPORTER: How likely are you to succeed with the aims of the Doha round to make this illegal?
SIMON CREAN: If we conclude Doha, these measures will be illegal in the future.
ENDS
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