WTO threat still far in the distance

FARMERS may avoid WTO upsets if the EU and the US carve up the world between them into a series of free trade agreements, say observers of the international talks which will resume in Mexico in September.

David Spencer, Australia’s world trade minister, has warned that WTO will collapse in Mexico next September, and the EU and US will walk away and implement a plan B to go their own way and let the WTO system wither.

Although feared by EU farmers as a potential knockout punch after their recent pummelling in the CAP reform, a world trade agreement next September is unlikely, say more and more trade analysts.