EU bemoans US food trade restrictions

Posted by Daniel Palmer on 4th August 2009

The European Commission has released a report highlighting the scale of US trade barriers that impede EU food exports to the country.Brussels and Washington have been discussing outstanding tariff, subsidy and bureaucratic problems through the Transatlantic Economic Council. However, a new Commission-published US Barriers to Trade and Investment Report for 2008 stressed: “There still exist trade barriers and differences that hinder trade and investment.”

The food trade is more widely mentioned than others, with special farm subsidies and bioterrorism rules restricting trade. One problem covers fluid milk, cream, cottage cheese and yoghurt, where some certification demanded by Washington is unavailable – making sales “extremely difficult”.

The Australian Government, too, has complained recently about protectionist measures, after becoming disillusioned by the re-introduction of dairy subsidies.

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