WTO a juggernaut coming at Irish agriculture

WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) reforms pose a far bigger threat to Irish agriculture than the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) currently underway.

While the decoupling proposals and the move to abolish quotas in dairying have got acres of coverage we may have taken our eyes off the ball.

The WTO is pushing for open markets and is no longer prepared to tolerate a global market economy where the EU can subsidise exports on the one hand and keep trade barriers up against imports on the other.