Australia refuses to dismantle its export monopolies

Australia’s trade minister Mark Vaile has refused to dismantle the wheat export monopoly, the Australian Wheat Board Ltd, as requested by the United States, making it even more uncertain that the Doha Round will be revived.

The United States have called for Australia to dismantle AWB Ltd, which constitutes, according to Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture, an export monopoly and therefore “a form of subsidy which affects international commercial exchange”. But this request was not received favourably in Australia, as Mark Vaile emphasizes: “Although we agree with the elimination of any practices carried out by State Trading Enterprises which affect international exchange, we consider that a monopoly conferred on a State Trading Enterprise – like AWB Ltd – does not in itself create trade distortions”.

However, although most international experts agree that State Trading Enterprises, and even more when it concerns export monopolies, are the cause of real trade distortions, we have to admit that the WTO has not yet delivered its verdict on their real effects, shielding Australia therefore from any blame.

The growing differences of opinion between the main negotiators are jeopardizing any hope that the Doha Round will be restarted in the near future. We should therefore take advantage of this latency period to propose other solutions with the aim of finding a fair international agreement, in which agriculture will not be just a simple adjustment variable in negotiations. .

Source : Washington Post