Canada is a major player in the world barley market. It is among the top three exporters of both feed and malting barley in the world. At times, total exports from the European Union, Canada and Australia have been in excess of 78% of total world barley exports. Canada and Australia together have had more than 50% market share of barley exports. For malting barley, Canada's export market share has been as high as 40%. From a market perspective, the Canadian domestic market for feed barley has been the largest component of total Canadian barley consumption.

Export Enhancement Program (EEP) subsidies and restitution payments have been central to the export of U.S. and E.U. barley, respectively. The European Union halted restitution payments in May 1995, but these were reintroduced in September 1996. For barley, these subsidies commonly exceeded US $60/mt. The United States has not subsidized barley exports since July 1995. However, the 1996 Farm Bill authorized EEP funding of US $350 million in fiscal 1996, $250 million in 1997, $500 million in 1998, $550 million in 1999, $579 million in 2000, and $478 million in 2001 and 2002.

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