The EU action is particularly disappointing in light of the political commitment it made to end export subsidies on pork and other agricultural products as a part of the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round negotiations.

“The EU subsidies are a direct blow to U.S. pork producers,” said NPPC President Jill Appell, a producer from Altona, Ill. “Our profitability is increasingly dependent on our exports. The EU subsidies undermine the U.S. pork industry’s hard-earned export sales and will unfairly shift financial pain to our producers.”

U.S. pork producers, like pork producers in the EU and most other countries, are in financial turmoil due to very high feed prices and relatively low live hog prices.

The EU’s action, said NPPC, highlights the need to eliminate EU agricultural export subsidies, including those for pork, as a part of the WTO Doha Round negotiations. NPPC has stated many times that the U.S. pork industry only will support a Doha Round agreement if it results in the complete elimination of export subsidies and provides major market access gains for U.S. pork in the EU and other key markets around the world.

Further Reading

- Go to another article on this subject by clicking here.