03 March, 2006

Australia: US, EU pressure Australia to drop scandal-hit AWB's wheat monopoly

The US and the EU have pressured Australia to drop its monopoly marketing system for wheat amidst a scandal over the payment of huge bribes to Saddam Hussein's Iraq, AFX News posted on March 1.

US and EU officials in Canberra for trade talks said they would not exploit the scandal in world trade negotiations but would continue to press for an end to AWB Ltd's monopoly, Agence France-Presse reported.

AWB, formerly the government-owned Australian Wheat Board, is at the center of an inquiry into the payment of some 220 mln usd in kickbacks to Saddam's government under the UN oil-for-food program.

Speaking at the same conference, Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile strongly defended AWB, saying the government would reject calls to abolish it until other governments removed subsidies for wheat farmers. 'It does not distort world trade. Instead, it enables our wheat industry to survive in a market distorted by domestic support arrangements, tariffs and export subsidies,' he said.

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