KANANASKIS, Alta. – Single-desk grain agencies might find they have little reason to exist after the next world trade agreement, says the president of the National Farmers Federation of Australia.
“As the next round of international trade talks gets rid of more and more (single-desk buyers), the argument for single desk (sellers) goes,” said Don McGauchie at the Western Canadian Wheat Growers annual convention.
The Australian Wheat Board has an export sales monopoly similar to that of the Canadian Wheat Board but the Australian one is being privatized.
McGauchie said single-desk grain exporters are still useful in minimizing the damage of subsidy programs like the United States’ export enhancement program.
But if the next world trade agreement gets rid of programs like EEP and single-desk buyers, there won’t be an advantage to monopoly selling, McGauchie said.
