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Global beef trade will also be on the table at an upcoming WTO China meeting

WASHINGTON, DC - 05/08/05 - All members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) should place elimination of agricultural subsidies high on their trade agendas, according to US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in today's Washington File.

Farm subsidies "do not meet the needs of an increasingly global market economy," he said, adding that "the day has arrived for the elimination of subsidies."

Johanns said President Bush's challenge earlier this week to the Group of Eight (G8) nations to create a new balanced trade regime to benefit Africa was "right on target."

Bush spoke after he met with Danish Prime Minister Roul Nyrup Rasmussen in Lyngby, Denmark, in advance of the annual meeting of the heads of state of the G8, which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the US, and Russia.

The G8 economic summit meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland ends today.

Johanns will travel tomorrow to Beijing, China for a WTO "mini-ministerial" meeting of agriculture and trade ministers to discuss ending subsidies and a variety of other issues.

He said he is confident discussions will advance the development of a "reformed" WTO trade agenda before trade ministers from the 148 WTO members meet in Hong Kong in December.

The reform agenda would be based on three pillars: eliminating trade-distorting export subsidies, reducing domestic supports and increasing market access.

Among the issues Johanns reportedly plans to discuss with Chinese officials is China's use of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, which vary among provinces, and their effect on farm trade.

Johanns also said he plans to discuss how the US can help meet China's evolving food needs, which are being driven by a growing middle class.

Since China joined the WTO in 2001, agriculture trade between the country and the US has increased 240%, making China the fifth-largest US farm export market, with particularly strong sales of soybeans and cotton.

The potential for further growth of US farm exports to China is "very real," he added.

The safety of US beef is another issue Johanns plans to address. In meetings with Chinese officials and in bilateral meetings with agriculture ministers of Japan and Korea, he will push for the reopening of the countries' markets to US beef, he said.

The markets were closed to US beef following the discovery of the first of two cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - also known as mad cow disease - in the US, one in December 2003 and another late last month.

Johanns said results of USDA's BSE "expanded surveillance program" implemented in June 2004 in response to the first known US case of the disease are "encouraging."

The program, which has significantly increased the number of cows throughout the country tested for BSE, is providing a scientifically based body of information showing that US cattle are "remarkably healthy," he said.

Johanns said that the program meets international testing standards and proves that testing every head of cattle is unnecessary.

The "firewalls" of the early-identification and containment system work well, Johanns said, adding they ensured that a second case of BSE discovered in an aged cow in the US in June could not enter the food supply.

"US beef is safe," he said. 

The secretary said he expects Taiwan will resume importing US beef because USDA has provided it with requested epidemiological information.

After his meeting in Taiwan, Johanns will travel to Madagascar to sign an agreement on providing technical assistance to the country to help it meet its Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) goals for boosting agricultural and rural development.

In April, Madagascar - the island nation located off the southeast coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean - was selected as the second country to receive MCA aid. MCA is the Bush Administration's supplemental aid program designed to reward countries that demonstrate a commitment to economic and social reforms.

Johanns then is scheduled to travel to Senegal to address ministers from 37 African nations at a meeting on the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

The US law, which became effective in 2000, offers incentives for African countries to continue their efforts to open their economies and build free markets.

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