Agmates

Agmates editor Steve Truman writes:

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Steve Truman

The great  myth of global Free Trade is unraveling faster than Trade Minister Simon Crean and Agriculture Minister Tony Burke can say Chk- Chk Boom.

AUSTRALIA’S dairy industry has been dealt a heavy blow after the United States announced plans to subsidize dairy exports in a retaliatory strike against the European Union.

In a joint press release the Australian Trade and Agriculture ministers stated:

Now, both the EU and US are using export subsidies and setting a poor example for the rest of the world. We strongly reaffirm the need for the US and the EU to show better leadership.

The US decision also highlights the importance of concluding the WTO’s Doha Round, which will see the complete elimination of export subsidies.

Crean & Burke are living in cloud cuckoo land. As I said in this article the EU and USA have never stopped subsidizing their food producers.

For agriculture the 3 superpower economies, the USA, the EU and Japan have urged us to lead the world in Free Trade while making no significant reduction of Ag import tariffs themselves. In fact they have massively increased direct subsidies paid to their farmers. Those subsidies alone are now worth more than $230 US billion a year.

The EU and the USA have never been prepared to sit back and let their food producers be forced out of business by Free Trade. Why -- because they understand that if a nation does not have food security then society itself disintegrates. Watch this video from just a year ago to see what I mean.

With the worlds population set to soar from 6.9 billion to 9 billion in the next 40 years estimates are that the world will have to produce 50% more food than it already does.

The EU and USA governments are aware of this and unlike their Australian counterparts are not prepared under any circumstances to let their food production capacity be decimated by global free trade agreements.

As I’ve repeatedly said, Australia has to be the Stupidest Nation on Earth (our Free Trade loving Politicians that is).

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Have Your Say!

Australian Agriculture minister Tony Burke and Trade Minister Simon Crean have taken great pride in announcing the following Free Trade initiatives this week.

• Thrown open the doors to a flood of cheap imports from the 10 ASEAN nations. this will see hordes of low cost, low regulated produce and fruit replace Australian produce on Supermarket shelves.

• Thrown open the doors to Chicken imports from anywhere in the worlds.

• Thrown open the doors to low cost and low regulation banana imports from the Philippines.

We saw the Coalition do the same with our pork producers some years ago. Today most pork on supermarket shelves is from heavily subsidized producers in the USA and Denmark. The result is that 40% of our pork producers have left the industry in the last 18 months.

How long will it be before we open our doors to low cost beef from South America?

Can’t happen I hear you say. Why not I ask? After all our major beef processor is the Brazilian owned JBS-Swifts. They are also the largest Beef processor in South America.

Each of our agriculture industries is being picked off one by one by the Free Traders. Soon there will only be the beef and lamb industries left untouched.

Ask yourself – how long?

After all that’s what free trade is all about.

Have your say!

Australia’s trade minister Simon Crean is crowing about the new Free trade deal he has just signed Australia up to.

AUSTRALIA will open its markets completely to imports from the 10 ASEAN countries, but will not get full access to their markets under a free trade agreement signed in Thailand last night.

Under a deal Trade Minister Simon Crean said was bigger than the deal with the US, indeed “the largest FTA Australia has ever signed”

Well done Simon. Every Australian & New Zealand farmer and manufacturer can now compete on a level playing field with farmers and manufacturers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Lets see last time I looked all except Singapore are 3rd world nations who pay their workers what AU$2 day. In Australia we pay our workers $200 a day with your government about to increase that by up to 20% with your new industrial relations reforms.

We should have no trouble competing with their food producers or manufacturers.

But hang on – Simon must have won us some advantages with his honed and tough negotiating skills.

Australia already has free trade with Singapore. But the other nine Asian countries will retain some barriers in areas including dairy products, cars, and other machinery to protect producers.

Minister Crean crows:

“Trade barriers are coming down in the region,”

And he is right - ours – get ready to see a flood of cheap food, cars, and retail junk in Australian and New Zealand supermarkets and shopping malls.

“Our challenge to Australian business and exporters is to look to South-East Asia to take advantage of the new opportunities.

This is an extremely strong signal to the rest of the world that the Asian region remains committed to pursuing economic growth, exports and jobs to help drive the economic recovery.”

Oh thats great – so Mr Crean, lets now look to South-East Asia to export all of our jobs, as we saw this week with Pacific Brands (Bonds) sacking 1,850 Australian workers and closing 7 factories to move its operation to China.

Lets look to South-East Asia to import all of our fruit and vegetables while Australian farmers produce rots in the paddock or on the tree because we can’t compete with the flood of cheap imports.

Simon, just tell us what we can produce on a huge scale here that those countries can afford to buy, is it rice (no), is it wheat (no), is it beef (no), is it lamb (no), is it dairy (yes – oh but its no included in the deal) well then maybe it’s Kangaroo?

Unfortunately our farmers can’t move their farm production to South East Asia, because unlike Australia those countries have severe restrictions on foreigners owning land in their countries.

Well done Simon, another stake in the heart of all Australian food producers and manufacturers.

Don’t you love Free Trade. Well these industry groups do:

Business groups hailed the agreement. The Business Council, National Farmers Federation, Minerals Council, Australian Industry Group, and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry united in support, although the NFF regretted the exclusions.

Thats right folks – National Farmers Federations supports the deal, with some regrets. They are a pathetic joke.

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Have your say!

The Doha Free Trade talks are dead for this year,

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WTO director-general Pascal Lamy has conceded the Doha round of talks will not be concluded this year and has established a special taskforce to consider the financial crisis.

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Yet Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean still dreams on, for how many years has it been now?

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Trade Minister Simon Crean said last night he believed it was still necessary and possible to get the stalled talks on a basis for agreement completed this year.

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While Mr Crean is fantasizing about a world trade agreement the EU is moving to restore import duties on imported Cereals in response to sharp price declines over the last several months. Import duties were suspended in January after steep increases in the price of cereals, such as wheat, rye, sorghum and corn, in an effort to boost cereals supplies coming into the European Union.

What Mr Crean and others fail to recognize is that a sovereign Food Security will and always should over ride any Global Free Trade agreement.

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Have Your say!

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Got a tip off, article or have you seen a video or item you’d like to be seen by the Agmates Community? If so please email it to us at news@agmates.com

I have been probing the peak bodies for possible ramifications of the global credit crisis on our farmers for days. I just knew there had to be some, but I couldn’t find it till now.

Got this tip off by email this morning -

“Rumour has it that meat is being returned from Russia in large tonnages as the credit crises has hit them and they cannot pay for their beef.

I haven’t heard it from an official source”

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I can confirm that the information is “dead right”. I have spoken to senior figures in the industry who have asked not to be named who say the information is correct.

It involves all processor who have meat on the water to Russia. None of them are giving anything away. They are claiming the information is “commercial in confidence”.

I will update this entry as more information comes to hand.

Update: 3pm -

I have contacted both the Federal Ag Minister Tony Burkes Office and Trade Minister Simon Creans Office and both have said they will get back to us.

Update: 3.55pm -

Was given a tip off that kilcoy Pastoral has an employee in Russia at the minute. Spoke to Kilcoy CEO Tony Munns. Tony confirmed our information and said:

“Our product is going into Russia and we have no problems. Our product is being well received and infact we are currently in the process of negotiation our next product shipment. It is business as usual for the trade between Kilcoy Pastoral Co and our Russian customers.”

Thanks Tony.

That debunks the information that I was given this morning that this involves all Processors that have meat on the water to Russia. Obviously KPC has no problems.

Lets just hope this whole thing is just one of those crazy rumours that do the rounds in times of great uncertainty. We are working hard to get to the actual truth of the matter for the Agmates community.

If anybody knows or hears anything please email me at news@agmates.com or call 0428 966819. In confidence of course.