Worse than CAP

[james armstrong]

Prices received by (EU) farmers 
were 27% higher than those observed on world market in 2004- 2006,
compared with 79%  in 1986-1988”

 

“Market access restrictions (in EU)  protect domestic agriculture by restricting
foreign imports”

Export subsidies  are
financial benefits conferred on exporting firms .  As a consequence global prices are
suppressed. ….  

Domestic Support 
includes price supports` paid by government to farmers ..

The EU makes use of 
all three types of instruments.”

 

Market Access Restrictions – 

Tarrifs –

Because they apply to imports from any country which has not
preferential access rights, tariff estimates 
on agricultural imports  range
between  18% and 29%.     This is much higher than EU’s protection
of manufactured goods, which averages around 3%

.

Estimates are from a TCD report   “EU Agricultural measures”

 

Trinity College Dublin web site has a lot of info on CAP and
useful links

 

My introduction to CAP was by way of discovering UK
annual CAP payments of £3.9billion 
to  landowners, food processors
rural developers and to some  farmers.

The above items show that the policy goes way beyond such
measures. 

Such headings as Direct Aids, Market Support and  export subsidies might add 25% to the cost to taxpayers of
CAP.

 Then there's the inbcrease in food prices (above)  


“Tariff escalation” raises another issue -  punishing 3w food producers by higher tadiff
rates for processing cocoa, sugar etc to export the finished products to EU
.  

Public  funds going to
EU food processors also raise the issue of corporate power   benefiting 
secretly from  public funds.

 

There is another 
developed world government  regime affecting  third world farmers- 


what one American described to me as ‘Pork barrel ‘
politics- he was referring to the American Food Bill which  subsidises US ‘farmers’  on a massive scale – much like CAP in Britain
and Europe.   At least in US the public and the media have th eissue out in the open- and how!  

 

“The EU  is often
accused of following very  protectionist
trade policies  in agriculture, where
developing countries  have most of  their comparative advantage”  as Trinity
 College puts it. 

 

Then there is the effect of CAP (and US Farm Bill) on
agriculture (think  mega farms in UK
and factory farming in US ) I thought CAP payments were obscure 

  See what crawls out
when you peke under  the stone.     James                            CAP  tcd

 		 	   		  
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