APPENDIX 1
Memorandum submitted by the Tenant Farmers
Association (S 1)
INTRODUCTION
The Tenant Farmers Association is the representative
organisation for all who rent agricultural land in England and
Wales. Its membership covers all farming types and sizes and it
is recognised as the definitive voice for the agricultural tenanted
sector. The TFA welcomes the invitation to submit written evidence
to the Committee as part of its inquiry into the WTO and world
trade issues.
THE MUDDLED
THINKING OF
THE GOVERNMENT
The TFA is concerned about the relentless push
of the Government to remove agricultural support and to leave
the farming community more and more exposed to the world market.
Indeed, we feel that the Government is guilty of muddled thinking
since on the one hand it expresses the desire for agriculture
to become more competitive, more efficient, market seeking and
less reliant on subsidy while on the other espousing the virtues
of traditional agriculture including family farms, high environmental
and animal welfare standards, high landscape value and integrated
communities. It is this part of the agriculture structure which
is most under pressure from a higher degree of exposure to world
markets. The TFA would ask the Committee to urge the Government
to consider carefully where it stands on these issues.
COMPLIANT WITH
WTO RULES
Although the economists say that free trade
brings the most benefits of any trading system, the TFA believes
that such a theoretical heaven will never be reached. The TFA
has concerns about whether all the parties to the WTO are fully
in accordance with the letter, let alone the spirit, of many of
the WTO rules. If there are countries that are not playing by
the rules then it will have detrimental impacts on national and
global economies. The Committee should ensure that the Government
works hard to guarantee that other WTO signatories are operating
strictly within the rules laid down in any agreements.
INCREASING REGULATION
Another area where the TFA has concerns about
Government policy is in relation to the amount of regulation the
UK agricultural industry is being asked to bear. At a time when
trade barriers and other forms of protection are being negotiated
downwards, it is alarming that the Government chooses to impose
regulation, adding costs to the industry, which act to work against
agriculture in its attempt to compete with other countries involved
in global trading. We must not agree further reductions in trade
barriers and protection without also seeking to reduce the amount
of regulation on the industry. If the Government wishes to maintain
or increase domestic regulation then there must remain an element
of support for the domestic agricultural sector to counter balance
the increasing costs.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED
ORGANISMS
Another area which will need a WTO protocol
is in relation to genetically modified organisms. GMO technology
is already global and there is little point in individual countries
or even the EU as a whole, establishing policies to restrict the
use of GMOs when other countries are taking a more open stance
on the issue. GMO products will be trading side by side with non
GMO crops on world markets and without a WTO protocol this unfair
competition could cause problems. The TFA is therefore asking
the Government to seek a WTO protocol on the growing, use, commercialisation
and trade in GMO products.
CONDUCT OF
NEGOTIATIONS
Finally, it will be important for the EU to
be properly prepared when it enters into negotiations. Other parties
to the WTO negotiations will have focused agendas but, without
careful co-ordination, the stance of the EU could be severely
weakened by internal disagreements between the Member States.
Any disagreements between Member States must be settled well in
advance of negotiations beginning. A united front will be essential.
1 September 1999
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