Remarks by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman WTO Ministerial Meeting Family Farmers' Summit on Agricultural Trade Seattle, Washington November 29, 1999 Release No. st007.99 REMARKS by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman WTO Ministerial Meeting Family Farmers' Summit on Agricultural Trade Seattle, Washington November 29, 1999 "Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to meet with a group that represents so many of the men and women who are the heart and soul of agriculture around the world -- family farmers. "These are difficult times for family farmers in many parts of the globe. In the United States, low prices, natural disasters, weak global demand, and a worldwide grain glut have all added up to some of the worst economic conditions on the farm in at least a decade. "We want to help farmers and ranchers not just because they are an important source of economic growth, but because they represent a way of life. They are a link to our nation's agrarian past; they are a unique, indelible part of our national character. And I know that many other nations feel that same way too. I think President Franklin Roosevelt could have been speaking for any nation represented here today when he called the farmer "our ideal of self-reliance and spiritual balance the source from which the reservoirs of our nation's strength are constantly renewed." "Helping our family farmers to succeed is a linchpin of our agricultural policy, just as it is in other nations around the world. We provide technical assistance; we support rural economic development; we have conservation programs; we invest in cutting-edge agricultural research. We support the right of any nation to give its farmers the tools they need to prosper, but they must be delivered in a minimally trade-distorting manner. "That's why the United States is pushing for an elimination of export subsidies and the reform of trade-distorting domestic support. Export subsidies tilt the playing field against competitors, especially developing nations, who can't afford to subsidize their producers. Not only that, in the long run, subsidies can victimize the very farmers they're designed to help. They often lead to inefficiencies, environmental abuse, and bloated government budgets. "Tariffs are another trade-distorting tactic we hope to bring under control. Agricultural tariffs for the WTO member nations average a staggering 50 percent. In the United States, we've learned our lesson about tariffs. Back in the early 1930s, the Smoot-Hawley Act set tariffs at outrageously high rates, thus speeding our descent into the Great Depression. "I also want to see our farmers reap the benefits of innovation in biotechnology. And I believe that they can, if we base market access in GMO products on a timely and transparent approval process that is rooted in sound science. We understand the skepticism about genetically modified foods, and we would never expect consumers at home or abroad to accept them without safety assurances. "That's why we maintain a tight regulatory system, with checks and balances, in which every biotech product undergoes the most rigorous scientific scrutiny before it can be brought to market. It's a system that enjoys the confidence of the American people, and one that we continue to upgrade and improve. "All of us, not just the United States, have much to gain from a global marketplace that provides a level competitive playing field. Yes, it's true that the United States is the largest agricultural exporter. But we also buy more foreign agricultural goods more than any other nation, about $37.5 billion worth in 1999. "The promise of trade for the farmers of the world is great. Protected agriculture is simply not viable in a world that grows more interdependent every day. Only with full access to each other's markets...only by passing goods across oceans and continent will our farmers and ranchers reach new levels of prosperity in the 21st century." #