Beef quota and dairy subsidies attract WTO members’ attention

The European Union plans to introduce a new import quota for high quality beef under an agreement with the US for settling a dispute on the EU’s ban on imports of beef from cattle raised with hormones.

The quota would be compensation for the EU’s failure to lift the ban, which has been found to violate WTO agreements.

Replying to questions from Australia at the Agriculture Committee meeting on July 2, the EU said the new quota will be available equally to all WTO members.

It rejected the suggestion that the import trade would be distorted because quantities within the new quota are duty-free whereas existing quotas, which are specific to individual supplying countries, have a 20%.

It says distortion would be within the EU’s domestic market, it said.

Australia and its supporters — Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, New Zealand, Paraguay and South Africa — said they would monitor how the new quota is implemented to ensure there is no discrimination.

Replying to concerns from China and New Zealand, the US said it was forced to re-introduce export subsidies on dairy products in May because other countries’ subsidies were depressing prices and making the US industry uncompetitive.

China said the US should get together with other countries to fight the subsidies instead of using them. In its complaint, it had described the US move as “very typical ‘beggar-my-neighbour’ behaviour”.

New Zealand wanted to know when both US and EU subsidies would end.

The EU, whose subsidies had been discussed in the previous meeting in March, said it could not say when they would end. It repeated that it remains within its commitment in the WTO.