Milling & Baking News - July 19, 2005 - 42

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Bush sets 2010 target for ending
agricultural supports; talks slow
Continued from Page 1
appeared more committed than ever
before to achieving this goal. He told a
press conference in Scotland, "We want
to work with the E.U. to rid our respective countries of agricultural subsidies.
I would hope that by 2010, the Doha
Round will achieve that objective."
Speaking of the Doha Round, the
name of W.T.O. trade talks, Mr. Bush
declared, "We've got to get a deal."
In the wake of Mr. Bush's declaration,
which is also high on the Blair government's agenda, observers at Gleneagles
expressed the hope that these summit
enthusiasms could be translated into
positive action by trade negotiators in
Geneva. That was particularly important in light of the meeting this week
in Dalian, China, of major trade negotiators from W.T.O. member countries
who are meeting to seek to make progress on agricultural reforms.
Supachai Panitchpakdi, director-general of the W.T.O., returned to Geneva
from Gleneagles, and observed, "Frankly, it is sobering to pass from the high
level of expectations and hopes that I
have encountered in Scotland to the
reality of the negotiating process here
in Geneva." This prompted the assertion that a "bizarre disconnect" existed
between the enthusiastic rhetoric in
Gleneagles on making progress in the
trade talks with intransigence among
the negotiators in Geneva.
Ahead of the Dalian meeting, Tim
Groser, the New Zealander chairman of
the agricultural negotiations, warned he
has been unable to produce even a first
draft of the proposed agricultural trade
reforms. Mr. Supachai added, "The time
is long overdue to pass from identifying
to solving problems; from the technical to
the political level; and from generalities
to specifics." Pointing to the important
Hong Kong ministerial meeting set for the
end of this year - 13 weeks from the start
of September - he warned, "If we are to
have a chance of finishing the Round in
good time, Hong Kong must take us into
the last lap of the negotiations. This in
turn means that the ministers have to be
presented with a manageable set of key
decisions to consider there."
So far as progress in the agricultural talks
is concerned, two barriers loom large. One
is the inability to agree on a specific date
for ending export subsidy programs. The
other is the E.U.'s refusal to compromise
on determining the mathematical formula
to be used in reducing farm supports. The
E.U. continued to want the same acrossbakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

the-board percentage reduction to apply,
as was the case with the former Uruguay
Round outcome. Other member countries
continued to insist on a tiered formula
for support program cuts, which means
the higher tariffs and supports in areas
like the E.U. would be subject to the
sharpest reductions.
It was generally agreed that no breakthrough in agricultural negotiations
would be possible without reaching a
compromise on this formula. In turn,
this relates to "market access," which
has been put forward as the major solution of poverty in developing countries,
especially in Africa.
Reflecting sensitivity to the way that
the E.U. is criticized for intransigence, a
community spokesman said, "The objective is to make progress on all issues, not
just market access in agriculture."
One issue that no longer occupied center stage was U.S. food aid, which Brussels
has called "thinly disguised export subsidies." With recent cutbacks in U.S. aid programs, American food aid no longer was
viewed as a substantive issue "for now."
The U.S. also claimed a positive attitude toward agricultural reform was
reflected in its action to comply with a
W.T.O. ruling against the Step 2 cotton
program, which involved special payments to finance milled cotton exports.
J.B. Penn, undersecretary of agriculture,
in announcing the end of this program
said, "Our willingness to take prompt
steps sends a signal to the rest of the world
that the U.S. wants a successful conclusion
of the Doha Round. We are a member of
the club and intend to obey the rules. We
expect others to do likewise."
The Bush administration proposal
to end support subsidies by 2010 contained echoes of an appeal by an earlier
U.S. President. A similar call, ultimately
unsuccessful, was made by President
Ronald Reagan in 1986 ahead of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
talks in Punta del Este, Uruguay. At the
time, the Reagan administration said the
U.S. would be willing to negotiate all
protectionist trade measures in the hope
of ending all export subsidies by the
year 2000. President Reagan explained,
"One of our major priorities at the talks
will be addressing the mutually destructive practice of subsidizing agricultural
exports. Friendly nations trying to help
domestic producers are undermining the
well-being of farmers all over the world,
and American farmers are some of the
hardest hit. The situation is intolerable,
and we expect to have it corrected." MBN

Thirty-One Varieties of
Bagels a Big Winner in
Massachusetts

At eight years of age , Dan
short to throw
bread and roll dough through the
molder in his grandfather 's bakery, so
he had to stand on a milk crate.
Now, thirty-five years
later Dan stands tall in
the retail baking business.
Dan's bakery, Blue
Moon Bakeiy, in t
he
Metro West Area of
Boston, Massachusetts,
recently was named

Freedman was too

"Best Bakery", "Best
"Best Breakfast", "Best
Lunch", and "Best Bagels" in the
Metro West Area.
Dan 's particularly proud of h
te
Daniel Freedman

Cafe ",

Bagel award since he produces more
han 31 varieties , including Hawaiian
t
Bagels , Oreo Cookie Bagels and

Cherry Garcia Bagels. The tremen-

dous variety of flavors and flavor
blends available from International

Bakers Services allows Blue Moon
Bakery to develop a bagel for every
taste, he noted.
Dan got out of h
te retail baking
business for a short time to work as a
consultant to other bakers. But he
franld y admitted he became tired of
the traveling and missed what he has
done for most of his life: baking and
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our bagels and t
he many flavors from

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tink that 's why our
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use a lot of their Vanilla and Lemon

flavorings in our cakes and other sweet
foods ' he said.
Dan 's two children , Ty and Ry lin,
both study drama in high school , but
also work in the bakery. In fact, daughter Ry lin developed an M&M muffm
hat kids just love.
t
Keep your customers coming back
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Milling & Baking News, July 19, 2005 / 43

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Milling & Baking News - July 19, 2005

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