Australian #dairy industry calls for focus on no exemptions in Trans-Pacific Partnership as US sector threatens to walk away

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AUSTRALIAN dairy leaders say Trans-Pacific Partnership talks must focus on no exemptions after the US sector threatened to walk away from the deal.

US dairy groups said they would withdraw support for the 12-nation TPP if it did not secure “commercially meaningful” market access in Japan and Canada.

Members of the National Milk Producers Federation and US Dairy Export Council wrote to US Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack stressing the need for “comprehensive market access in all dairy tariff lines” in order to ensure a “high standard trade” agreement.

“We are prepared to match the level of ambition of Japan and Canada, and urge you to press both to provide a very strong dairy package,” the letter said.

“Our industry must not provide any new access in this agreement that has not been given by those countries.”

Australian Dairy Industry Council chairman Noel Campbell said he was “concerned” at reports of lack of progress and said negotiations should be “in good faith” with “broader interests in mind”.

He said when Japan joined the TPP negotiations it agreed to pursue a “comprehensive and ambitious” agreement in all areas, eliminating tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment.

“And yet at the recent TPP Ministerial meeting in Singapore, Economy Minister Akira Amari is reported to have told the other negotiating countries that Japan will not abolish tariffs in the five agricultural sectors, including dairy, it considers ‘sacred’,” Mr Campbell said.

“This is even more perplexing given recent media reports highlighting the fact that Japan plans to import an emergency shipment of 7000 tonnes of butter this year, the country’s biggest-ever emergency butter import.”

He said this was in addition to importing emergency shipments of skimmed milk powder.

Mr Campbell said if all countries sought sector-specific exemptions there would be no point in pursuing an agreement

Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said “real progress” had been made in negotiations and a “highly liberalising agreement” would create more seamless and far less protected trade and investment between countries.

Source: Weekly Times

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Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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