Ambassador's Corner

WEEKLY MESSAGE FROM AMBASSADOR JOHN BRUTON

February 5, 2008

Congressman Howard L. Berman

Last week I met Congressman Howard Berman of California, a very senior member of the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives. He has proven himself over the years to be a man who can work with both sides of the House, notwithstanding his strong political convictions. He represents part of the city of Los Angeles, including north Hollywood and Studio City. He has a deep interest in the technology and entertainment industries and we discussed measures that need to be taken to protect the copyright and performing rights interests of the motion picture industry and other intellectual and creative pursuits. I mentioned to him that there are aspects of intellectual property protection law that the United States itself needs to rectify to comply with recent decisions by panels appointed by the World Trade Organization. I am hopeful that he will be able to promote legislation to remedy these problems.

We also had a discussion on the negotiations currently being undertaken by Israel and the Palestinian Authority with a view to giving real content to the proposed two-state solution. I welcomed the initiative of President Bush at Annapolis.

I believe the matter is extremely urgent. Unless Palestinians can see tangible evidence of progress in improving their living conditions, their support for negotiations will diminish. Not only does Israel need to negotiate, it must go further, not least because a stable and viable Palestinian State, living at peace with its neighbours, is in Israel’s own interest. Israel must thus have the vision to go out of its way to create the physical and psychological conditions in which the Palestinian Authority will have a realistic chance of persuading their own people democratically to accept, and willingly to implement, an agreement with Israel which will involve very difficult compromises for individual Palestinians, most of whom have a deep and abiding sense of loss and injustice. We are at a great distance from that today, and the time is very short. Swift and decisive action by Israel is needed, which should also help improve its security.

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky

Jan Schakowsky represents the northern part of the city of Chicago as a Democrat. Before coming to Congress in 1998 she acted as Director of the Senior Citizens Group, as a consumer advocate, as a homemaker and as a teacher. She brings that immensely wide experience to bear on the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House where she has been a strong advocate on improved consumer protection. She is especially concerned about the safety of children and about the sale of goods that could endanger them.

I told her that the EU was anxious to work very closely with the US on improving the safety of both goods and food products on sale to consumers. I welcomed legislation currently being considered by her Committee to modernise the mandate of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). I stressed the need for this legislation to allow full exchange of information by the FDA with its EU counterparts. If we share information, we can both be much more effective in protecting consumers.

I welcomed proposals in the legislation to provide for more frequent inspections of food products coming into the United States, but I stressed the need to ensure that the fee structure governing such inspections should not artificially discriminate against small exporters as the current tariff line related fee structure would.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette

Diana DeGette represents Denver in Colorado. Prior to coming to Congress in 1996, she worked as a lawyer. She has similar interests to those of Jan Schakowsky. She has expressed concern about lack of adequate inspection of food being sold to American consumers and has referred to examples of the sale to American consumers of frozen spinach containing pesticide and honey containing a cancer-causing antibiotic. She has introduced legislation mandating the authorities to recall products in the event of contamination and to trace food from the farm to the meal table.

Congresswoman DeGette expressed interest in visiting Europe to have discussions with the food and veterinary authorities in Europe about how the United States and the European Union can work more closely together to promote higher consumer standards throughout the world.

Congressman Robin Hayes

Robin Hayes represents a portion of North Carolina stretching from Charlotte in the west to Fayetteville in the east. His district has been a major manufacturing sector and has experienced job losses in recent years. It is also a major agricultural region.

Robin Hayes serves on the Agricultural, Armed Services and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees of the House.

We had a detailed discussion on the possible enactment of the new Farm Bill. The current Farm Bill is set to expire and there is an ongoing process of negotiation between the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House about a Bill that would be acceptable to all three. The White House has expressed concern about proposal that would be trade-distorting and would therefore cause problems in the conclusions of a global trade round.

I stressed the importance of a global trade round. A DDA [Doha Development Agenda] deal would not solve all the economic problems in the world, but it would provide benefits to producers (new trade opportunities and new market access) and consumers (greater product choice and lower prices) that would not be insignificant. Moreover, a successful deal would reinforce the multilateral system by binding the existing openness in the world, and thereby providing insurance against protectionist tendencies.

I also explained European concerns about proposals to make European dairy products sold on the US market subject to a fee designed to raise funds to pay to promote increased dairy product consumption. European dairy imports to the US are limited by quota and that quota is already filled every year. Therefore, EU exporters would not benefit from any increased consumption that might be generated by promotional activities and argue that they should not be asked to contribute to the cost of such a scheme unless there is a commensurate increase in their import quota.

I highlighted the problem Europe has with US subsidies to encourage biodiesel production being applied to biodiesel exports from the US to Europe. It was not the original intention of Congress that the biodiesel subsidy would be an export subsidy. But the US market for biodiesel is limited and, in practice, US biodiesel is being exported to Europe with the benefit of subsidies. This is having a damaging effect on the development of a biodiesel industry in Europe, at the expense of US taxpayers.

Tribute concert to the late Tommy Makem

The World Folk Music Association recently sponsored a major concert in Washington to commemorate the life and work of Tommy Makem, a legendary singer from Keady, County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, who died recently. Long associated with the Clancy Brothers, Tommy spent much of his musical career in the United States and commanded a worldwide following. It was a magnificent event where a number of artists, including Tommy Makem's own sons, performed. Other participants were Danny Doyle, Eugene Byrne, Danny Quinn and the Shaw Brothers. The music was a fine combination of Irish, American and English folk music, which emphasizes the wide cultural roots of our transatlantic community.

Please send me your comments about this or any of my weekly messages or other EU matters. I look forward to hearing from you!


 

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