AAP NEWSFEED | April 7, 2004
The United States has failed to curb Canada's wheat board in a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling, easing fears of a US complaint against Australia's monopoly wheat exporter.
A WTO panel ruled against aspects of an American complaint about the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), a state trading enterprise which has monopoly rights over exporting that country's wheat.
It is similar to Australia's AWB Ltd, except it is not publicly listed and has a degree of control over domestic wheat sales.
AWB does not control domestic Australian wheat sales.
The US had sought to have the CWB declared to be in breach of WTO trading rules. If successful, it would have opened the door for a similar complaint by America against Australia and AWB.
In light of the sensitive nature of the case, Australia had given evidence to the WTO panel considering the issue.
There had been fears that if the US was successful, America might have made a WTO challenge against the AWB and other export monopolies used by Australian farmers.
However, a spokesman for Trade Minister Mark Vaile said the ruling would mean little for AWB.
"There are no direct impacts for state trading enterprises, specifically AWB," he said.
"The only state trading enterprise at issue was the Canadian Wheat Board and we see no real repercussions for AWB."
The panel ruled that the US had failed to establish its claim that CWB breached trade rules, rather than rejecting the claim outright.
It leaves open the door to a possible appeal by the US.AAP NEWSFEED:
