VZCZCXRO1755
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHLO #1555 1570815
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050815Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8839
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHED/AMCONSUL EDINBURGH PRIORITY 0940
RUEHBL/AMCONSUL BELFAST PRIORITY 1071

UNCLAS LONDON 001555 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT ALSO FOR USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EAGR UK EU
SUBJECT: UK OFFICIAL PESSIMISTIC ON TRADE AGENDA 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  A UK trade official told Econoff the UK is 
worried that the Doha Development Agreement round of trade 
talks will not succeed, which would be a serious blow.  He 
said the U.S. and others need to offer more.  On TEC, he said 
member states, not well briefed by the EU Commission, tended 
to believe the U.S. got more from the latest round than the 
EU did, which may have contributed to the subsequent vote 
against the EU's proposal on U.S. poultry.   End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Econoff reviewed Doha, TEC and related issues with 
John Souttar (protect) Bilateral Trade Officer at the UK's 
Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
(BERR) June 2. 
 
TEC/Poultry -- U.S. Got Too Much 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  The UK supports the EU Trade Commissioner's 
'science-based' stance allowing U.S. poultry into the 
European Union, Souttar said.  (Note:  In fact, the British 
abstained in the June 2 vote in the EU Standing Committee on 
Food Chain and Animal Health, the only member state not to 
vote against the Commission proposal.)   Souttar said Germany 
bore watching, because of popular pressure on the Merkel 
government to adopt more protectionist measures.  Without 
German support, the proposal would not go far, Souttar 
warned.   He hoped the U.S. was engaging in quiet talks with 
key players to come up with an acceptable compromise. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Most member states tended to view the most recent 
meeting of the TEC as a victory for the U.S., Souttar said. 
He faulted the Commission for failing to engage with the 
member states on TEC issues, which made the "pro-U.S." 
poultry proposal even more unpalatable.  He said UK lead on 
poultry is the Department of the Environment, Farming and 
Rural Affairs (DEFRA).   Souttar reiterated his (and the 
UK's) longstanding support for the TEC process.  If the 
world's largest traders cannot resolve their differences, he 
asked, who can? 
 
Doha Could Fail -- U.S. Must Do More 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Souttar raised and then returned repeatedly to the 
state of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations.   He 
said the UK is very concerned that they would not succeed. 
He pointedly said the U.S. (among others) needed to offer 
more.   When Econoff reminded him that the U.S. made a 
substantial offer on agricultural subsidies early in the 
negotiation, Souttar was dismissive. He said the UK shares 
the view of many that the U.S. offer on subsidies was "water" 
(i.e., cutting theoretical subsidies, because actual U.S. 
subsidies were already much lower.)   He noted that the 
President did not mention the DDA in his May 23 speech 
marking World Trade Week, focusing instead on bilateral 
agreements.  Souttar said this omission was interpreted as 
the U.S. "giving up" on the DDA.   The UK, Souttar stressed, 
very much wanted Doha to succeed.  The alternative to 
progress on trade liberalization, he feared, was not 
stagnation, but deterioration, as evidenced by recent trade 
barriers by food exporters. 
 
EPAs Not Moving 
--------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Souttar said the EU Economic Partnership Agreements 
were a "can of worms".   He judged that the partner countries 
have already pocketed the advantages of open access to the EU 
market, and felt no urgency in offering reciprocal access. 
Many countries of the South still felt a strong sense of 
entitlement when dealing with the North.  India, for example, 
still expected the UK to make "amends" for its colonial 
history by offering asymmetrical trade arrangements 
benefiting the ex-colony.  On the bureaucratic front, Souttar 
gave mixed grades a year after the merger of trade 
responsibilities between his Department and that for 
International Development (DfID).   He acknowledged that some 
duplication had been eliminated, but thought overall DfID had 
too great a share of the action, thanks to a larger budget. 
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