Kay Hull (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on the World Trade Organisation’s latest ministerial meeting? How has the Australian government helped to level the playing field for my farmers and exporters in the Riverina and also those farmers and exporters right across Australia?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Riverina for her question on what is a very important issue not just to Australia’s farmers but also to all Australia’s exporters, including Australia’s manufacturing exporters. At the end of last year we represented Australia at the Hong Kong ministerial meeting of the WTO, which includes the 150 member countries of the WTO. It was a very important meeting because the outcome was quite significant. The most important aspect of the outcome—and I know the member for Riverina is very keen to see this enacted—was a commitment by the European Union to end export subsidies by the year 2013. This outcome has been pursued by Australia, the Cairns Group and all the agricultural free-trading countries across the world for over 50 years. To achieve that commitment from the European Union is quite significant in ending what are the worst of all agricultural subsidies—that is, export subsidies and the way they distort in such a terrible way the markets of the world, not just affecting economies like Australia’s but also dramatically affecting the developing countries of the world. It is very important to recognise that all the developing countries of the world are very interested in improving their market access to some of the wealthier countries.

A classic example of the damage that export subsidies cause was the resultant outcome of a case that we took in the WTO over the last couple years on sugar export subsidies. Of course, we are seeing quite a buoyant market as far as the sugar industry across the world is concerned at the moment. That is very important, because for many years Australia’s sugar producers have suffered greatly. We won this case against the European Union in the WTO. The result was that they had to take their export subsidies off four million tonnes of sugar. It is very important to our industry and our nation.

We have set a timetable this year to agree the final outcomes in the round in terms of time frames and the formula for when other domestic support elements and other tariffs should be removed not just from agricultural products but from industrial goods and services. The meeting was very successful. Australia played a key role as a member of what is loosely called the G6—a group of countries that are trying to lead the way to conclude this round. They are the United States, the European Union, India, Japan, Brazil and Australia. We continue to work through the course of this year to try and achieve an outcome, which we expect to do by the end of this year. But we should remember that Australia has led the debate on many of these issues for over 50 years, through governments of both political persuasions. To achieve the outcome that we did in Hong Kong was very good, and to get a commitment from the European Union to end export subsidies by 2013 was warmly welcomed not just by Australia’s farmers or our exporters across the country but also by the Australian Labor Party.