EU Moves Away from Agricultural Subsidies and Markets Prosper

According to this week's international edition of Newsweek, European farmers are no longer fighting, but embracing globalization. The article highlights how European Union voters are 'starting to see through the shroud of myth surrounding domestic and export agriculture aid.' IDFA Senior Vice President Jerry Slominski says the article makes the argument that by moving away from subsidy programs the EU is moving ahead of the US in the world marketplace to the benefit of producers and processors. "IDFA has long been an advocate for programs that get away from subsidizing commodities and that promote production of higher value products such as cheese demanded by the marketplace," said Slominski. The article notes that since the European Union drastically cut export subsidies, its share of the global value added cheese trade has grown from 35 to 42 percent since 1999, while the EU's share of global trade in dried milk powder—a relatively cheap commodity used in food manufacturing—has plummeted from 50 percent in 1999 to 27 percent last year. To read the full article, click here.

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Posted March 24, 2008