贸易谈判僵局：美国农民指责欧洲

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February 24, 2014 8:10 pm

US farmers attack Europe on trade talks impasse

By James Politi in Washington

The powerful US farm lobby is souring on trade talks with the European Union, charging that Brussels is unwilling to consider any relaxation of health-based curbs on American food imports and warning that it would fight the deal on Capitol Hill if it is shut out.

In a visit to Washington last week, Karel De Gucht, EU trade commissioner, reiterated his steadfast opposition to allowing any beef treated with hormones into the European market, and ruled out changes to the EU’s tough regime on the approval of genetically-modified organisms.

His statements were slammed by US farm groups, who had hoped the trade talks launched last year would lead the EU to reconsider a series of bans, restrictions, and slow approvals on US agricultural products that have been among the most fractious matters in transatlantic trade over the past two decades.

“These categorical statements that ‘we’re not changing this and we’re not changing that and this is off the table’ really makes us question whether the EU even wants to do a deal,” says Steve Censky, chief executive of the American Soybean Association. “What we’re telling US negotiators and the US Congress is that unless the EU is truly willing to negotiate, no deal is better than a half-baked deal that doesn’t achieve market access,” Mr Censky added.

Agriculture was always expected to be a main sticking point in the talks to form a “Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership”, particularly since the goal is not just to reduce tariffs but also to reconcile the two different regulatory philosophies.

The gap is especially wide on food safety, with the EU practising the “precautionary principle” – which has a much lower threshold for setting restrictions compared to the US, with its more lenient “risk assessment” model.

Agricultural policy and methods remain the subject of intense debate within the EU and divisive issues among its member states. In May, new European Parliament elections are expected to produce a big swing in favour of populists, many of them anti-American and from rural constituencies. Those lawmakers will ultimately have to approve TTIP so their political hue is vital.

The European Commission is expected soon to authorise the use of a new insect-resistant GM strain of corn/maize called Pioneer 1507. But that follows more than a decade of debate and six separate scientific studies. It also comes despite votes by 19 of the EU’s 28 member states to block approval thanks to the bloc’s weighted voting system. While the UK backed approval, France vehemently opposed it.

US corn and soyabean producers complain that it can take more than 4 years to approve certain genetically modified approved crops, when it should only take 18 months – and they also question the EU’s mandatory labelling of GMO products. “It is nothing less than a scare label for consumers,” says Mr Censky.

Nick Giordano, vice-president and counsel for international affairs at the US National Pork Producers Council, acknowledges that these are “emotional issues” in Europe, but said Mr De Gucht’s comments were “troubling” and it was “preposterous” to question the safety of US food.

“To suggest that we can’t have some sort of mutual recognition or equivalence, why not? Europeans come here all the time and consume American food,” Mr Giordano says.

“If US agriculture opposes this deal, or basically say we’re not supporting it, it’s going to be pretty difficult for this to move forward,” says Mr Giordano.

Other farm lobbyists are relatively relaxed about Mr De Gucht’s remarks, saying the talks are in their early stages.

“There’s going to have to be some movement,” said one farm lobbyist who works on trade. “We went into this saying we’ve been stonewalled on some of these things for years and we want to see some change – otherwise why bother?” he added.

In remarks to US farm lobbyists last week, Michael Froman, US trade representative, also rejected Mr De Gucht’s opposition to allowing hormone-treated beef into the EU.

“This is a comprehensive negotiation,” he said. “We are going to have to work through this and come up with a balanced outcome.”

One person on the EU side of the TTIP talks said the two parties might make more headway than expected on agriculture “if only because expectations are so low.”

US farm lobbyists are also increasingly worried that they may not gain any benefits from separate trade talks with Pacific Rim nations, since Japan is resisting opening up some of its sensitive sectors.

Additional reporting by Shawn Donnan in London and Christian Oliver in Brussels