Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

Irish farmers have many concerns regarding the World Trade Organisation. They centre above all on Commissioner Mandelson's proposals to place the Common Agricultural Policy on the table as part of a deal. There are also concerns over the opening up of EU markets to beef from third countries and the implications of trade liberalisation for the Irish sugar beet sector.

Any effort to interfere with the single farm payment must be resisted strenuously. I am glad to note that the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, has stressed she is adopting this line and that she has the support of other Ministers responsible for agriculture. CAP reform and the introduction of decoupling were to remove farm payments from the negotiations on the basis that they would no longer be regarded as trade distorting subsidies. Farmers were also given a definite commitment that no attempt would be made to interfere with the CAP budget until at least 2013. These commitments must be honoured and this must be made clear to Commissioner Mandelson.

There are those who will argue that European agriculture is over-protected and unfairly discriminates against developing countries. That argument has an element of truth but there is also an element of an attempt to morally blackmail farmers into bearing the brunt of changes allegedly being made in the interests of developing countries. We must ask ourselves, therefore, who benefits from completely open markets and free trade. Will primary producers in the developing countries benefit materially from the opening up of the EU sugar market, for example? Will they be paid higher prices for their produce or will they see the benefits accrue to the corporations that dominate international trade and who plan to undercut EU producers on the basis that they are able to produce at much less cost due to the fact that they get their produce from subsistence producers?

It is also a fact that EU producers must comply with regulations on food safety and the environment and with other regulations that do not apply to commercial interests in the developing world. That is a particular issue with regard to the import of meat, for example, from Brazil. This has been argued in this House on numerous occasions. It is interesting to note, too, that while advocates of free trade in Europe and the United States claim that free trade is in the interests of developing nations, the majority of those nations are arguing for the right to retain certain tariffs and subsidies in the interests of food security and rural development.

Many developed countries, including the pre-enlargement member states and this State, used tariffs, subsidies and active investment policies to develop their economies. Developing countries must be allowed to employ the same type of measures, not least because to unleash powerful western economic interests on economies that are simply unable to compete is manifestly unjust. Sinn Féin demands that this State and the EU work with other WTO members to allow developing countries to use trade policies that support their vulnerable farmers and local industries and to allow countries to choose the best policies for poor people and for environmental services such as water, health and education.

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