B3-0710 and 0769/93

Resolution on the dumping of EC beef in the Sahel region

The European Parliament,

A.having regard to the need to restore agricultural production in the Sahel,

B.whereas the Maastricht Treaty rightly calls for coherence of the different areas of Community policy, in particular those which affect the developing countries, in order to establish a balance between the Community's policy on development and cooperation and the common agricultural policy of the European Community,

C.having regard to the gradual re-establishment of beef production, after a long period of drought during the 1980s, in a number of Sahel countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger,

D.having regard to the increase in beef exports from the European Community to Northwest Africa on which export refunds are paid at the extremely high rate of about ECU 2 per kilo,

E.having regard to the adverse effects of this dumping of beef in Northwest Africa on the further development of agriculture, especially beef production, in this region,

1.Reiterates its view that the common agricultural policy of the European Community and the reform of that policy should take account of the interests of the developing countries, especially as regards the development of a proper agricultural sector in these countries;

2.Calls on the Commission to take account, in its export policy, of the effect that export subsidies in particular have on production in developing countries themselves, on the food situation in those countries and on the general objectives of the Community's policy on development and cooperation;

3.Is of the opinion that the granting of - sometimes extremely high - export refunds should not lead to the destruction of the agricultural sector in recipient countries, especially where agriculture is being rehabilitated with the help of the Community's development and cooperation policy;

4.Urges the Commission to revise its policy on export refunds, and in particular to undertake a critical examination of the setting of different export refunds for different regions and to seek to phase out the exceptionally high export refunds for Northwest Africa and other areas, in such a way that local agricultural production is not destroyed by subsidized exports from the European Community;

5.Asks the Commission to report to Parliament on the consequences of this revision for the local population and local producers in Northwest Africa and for other developing countries, especially those who signed the Lomé IV Beef Protocol;

6.Requests the Commission to help improve the competitiveness of beef produced in the Sahel countries on the market of West African countries;

7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, Council, the governments of the Member States and the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EEC Council and Joint Assembly.