| Reopening FTAs in TPP Negotiation Unlikely |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Phillip Hayes Tuesday, August 3, 2010 202-271-5734 (cell) From the International Sweetener Symposium: Reopening FTAs in TPP Negotiation Unlikely
VAIL, Colo.—Even though Australia entered into a 2005 trade agreement with the United States that excluded sugar, some in Australia would be keen on using the upcoming Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation to carve out a greater share of the U.S. sugar market for Australian producers, Elizabeth Ward, the Australian Embassy’s trade counselor, said today at the 27th International Sweetener Symposium. To do so, Australia will have to overcome steep opposition from powerful interests in America and abroad. Don Phillips, trade adviser to the American Sugar Alliance, said reopening the trade deal as part of the TPP negotiation would have serious consequences for U.S. sugar farmers, U.S. sugar jobs, and taxpayers who might have to foot the bill to deal with subsequent surpluses. “Several trade deals are stalled in Congress right now, and the thought of reopening one that Congress already approved seems very unwise,” explained Phillips. And U.S. sugar farmers aren’t alone, said Phillips, who pointed to a May 11 letter from 20 farm organizations—including the American Farm Bureau Federation and groups representing corn, wheat, dairy, rice, pork, and poultry producers—asking the administration not to renegotiate existing market access commitments with Australia or other countries in its quest to create the new TPP. “The FTAs with Australia, Chile, Peru, and Singapore were very carefully negotiated in order to gain the support of U.S. agriculture and to secure congressional approval,” the group wrote. “The agricultural market access packages and the country-specific rules of origin that underpin them should not be reopened in the TPP.” A cascade of sugar imports from Australia or other TPP countries could also hurt poor countries like Guyana, Zimbabwe, Belize, and Barbados, explained Paul Ryberg, president of the International Sugar Trade Coalition, which represents the sugar industries of nearly 20 developing nations and has been a big supporter of U.S. sugar policy. “Australia is a rich, developed nation, and it would be taking away potential market share from poor, developing countries while driving down the fair price on which these nations depend,” he said. -0-
For more information about the International Sweetener Symposium, visit www.sugaralliance.orgSymposium audio files can be downloaded at www.ASAradio.org |
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