Europe's hurting the poor

The EU's tariffs on farm products are so high that it would need to make huge cuts before imports would be even remotely competitive. Our assessment is that the cuts would need to be between 60 per cent and 95 per cent for key traded products.

The EU has said it will develop a new offer by Thursday (today). It will need to come up with a proposal that will lead to a substantial improvement in market access, because it is cheating millions of the world's poor out of new hope.

The director-general of the World Trade Organisation has warned that it may be necessary to postpone the Hong Kong ministerial meeting of the WTO in December if the EU does not put forward a better proposal on market access.

I don't believe the meeting should be postponed, even if the EU does not put forward a better proposal. I believe that the EU and France would need to account for their actions before the parliament of world opinion. They would feel the full force of the world's disappointment at the way they would have destroyed the hopes of millions of people.

The Australian Government will work tirelessly over the next 50 days and beyond to reach an agreement that will not only benefit Australian farmers, but will give the poor a chance to grow and prosper by their own efforts.