Europe - Clearly, many of our most difficult negotiating challenges in agriculture will be with the European Union. However, we are working to develop consensus in as many areas as possible. In each of these we are requiring full compliance with the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture as well as significant market-opening measures, immediate acceptance of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement, and improved transparency in any existing state trading arrangements. In the case of China, which is of course the largest prospective new economy in the WTO, while some services and rules issues remain for discussion, agricultural negotiations are complete and include a very strong set of commitments in market access, renunciation of export subsidies, tariff-rate quotas and other issues. These negotiations resumed at the direction of Presidents Clinton and Jiang at the APEC Leaders Meeting earlier this month.
Much work remains ahead.
We hope to consult closely with the Committee as we prepare for the launch of the Round at the Ministerial, and then as the negotiations begin. We look forward to a continued close working relationship, and to results which lead to a fairer, more open trading world for America's farm and ranch families.