Press Release of Agriculture Committee Chambliss Hails Strong Market Call by the World's Weighty "Other Half" Contact: 202-224-2035 Friday, June 2, 2006 Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) issued the following statement today after trade ministers attending the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vietnam called for “ambitious modalities” and the need for a “strong market access result” in the Doha Round. Chambliss agreed with today's APEC statement, saying the 21-member economies of APEC reinforced the need for a multilateral trade agreement that improves the conditions for trade -- not mere cuts on paper. The U.S. Senate's Ag Chairman said today's APEC statement further underscores the need for the European Union to acknowledge the weight of opinion by the member economies representing nearly half of world trade, world population and more than half the world's GDP. “The United States has put an ambitious and balanced offer on the table. To this date, the Europeans have not come forward and met our offer in kind. In fact, now EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson believes the U.S. needs to sweeten our offer on domestic support in return for a less than adequate market access package,” said U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss “Let me be clear, the United States offer on domestic support must be calibrated to reflect the market access offers on the table or a final agreement will not pass the U.S. Congress. Incremental adjustments from the Europeans on a market access offer that already falls far short won't do it. I remain hopeful, but as Director General Lamy moves forward this month and tries to forge a deal on modalities, I encourage him help bring about a balanced agreement that will reward ambition rather than punish it.” EDITORS NOTE: APEC has 21 members - referred to as "Member Economies" - which account for approximately 40% of the world's population, approximately 56% of world GDP and about 48% of world trade. APEC economies have generated nearly 70% of global economic growth in its first 10 years. APEC's 21 Member Economies are Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; Viet Nam. 256415