WTO Negotiations Could Undermine Farm Bill Efforts

National Cotton Council Chairman Larry McClendon said the NCC will continue to work closely with Congress to ensure final passage and implementation of the Farm Bill and a successful conclusion to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha negotiations.

Larry McClendon

In an address at the Southern Cotton Ginners Association's Ag Update session on February 29, McClendon recapped the NCC's two-year efforts to develop sound farm policy that would: 1) provide a solid safety net for producers, ensure competitive prices in the international market, 2) align provisions of the upland cotton marketing loan with market signals and 3) streamline the flow of cotton to the marketplace. He said the Council also sought to avoid any tightening of payment limits or increased standards for eligibility for program benefits; to get a safety net of unlimited access to a marketing loan with redemption at the adjusted world price; and have the counter-cyclical payment decoupled from production with the direct payment left as the cornerstone of cotton policy.

"The farm bills in the House and Senate largely reflect the provisions sought by the Council," he stated. "The Council has urged Conferees to include reforms that are part of the House or Senate bills in the new farm bill."

McClendon warned that WTO negotiations may overshadow the U.S. cotton industry's two-year effort on delivering sound policy in new farm legislation. He said the U.S. agricultural community has been largely supportive of its trade negotiators' aggressiveness in the WTO Doha Round - even the proposed significant cuts in domestic agricultural support programs.

"But we stated from the very outset that such large cuts in support would only be acceptable if there were real, significant gains in market access," he said. "We warned our negotiators in 2006 that other countries were pocketing U.S. proposals and demanding more cuts in agricultural support while retreating on market access."