Asia Pacific | RPT-U.S. ally Australia seeks to sweeten Asian tiesCANBERRA, F...

Asia Pacific

 

RPT-U.S. ally Australia seeks to sweeten Asian ties
CANBERRA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Australia tried on Wednesday to sweeten relations with its Asian neighbours through a new foreign policy blueprint aimed at strengthening regional security ties while maintaining its U.S. alliance.

 

Europe

 

WTO farm plan calls for end to export subsidies
GENEVA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The chief mediator in global farm talks put forward a plan on Wednesday calling for an end to export subsidies and cuts in tariffs and domestic support. The plan, the first draft of a blueprint for detailed negotiations that World Trade Organization (WTO) countries must agree by March 31, was circulated to delegations by WTO Chief of Staff Stuart Harbinson, who chairs the negotiating committee.

 

USA

 

White House Unveils New Free Trade Area
The Bush administration proposed Tuesday to cut tariffs on two-thirds of America's imports of consumer and industrial products from Latin America to help jump-start negotiations aimed at creating the world's largest free trade area covering the Western Hemisphere.

 

Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman Regarding the U.S. Free Trade Area of the Americas Proposal
“The U.S. proposal marks yet another important milestone in pursuit of free trade for the Western Hemisphere. A Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will boost trade and spur economic development throughout the region resulting in additional market access and opportunities for U.S. farmers, ranchers and food companies."

 

Lawmakers To Try to Toughen Meat Safety
The government still isn't protecting consumers from contaminated meat a decade after four children died and 700 people were sickened in an E. coli outbreak linked to hamburgers sold by the Jack-in-the-Box fast food chain in the West, food safety activists and Democrats said Tuesday.

 

New FSIS booklet highlights food security issues, progress

Got questions about how well the key federal agency is doing in building food security across the industry?

 

US Cattle Prices to Rise
Cattle-Fax predicts higher prices for all classes of cattle in the USA.