Doha Lite? New market access in the Doha Round

• For the developed world the EU has floated a further step from our existing tabled offer of 39% average farm tariff cuts to "close to" 51.5%. This is a substantial move. It is by far the deepest farm tariff cuts the EU has ever offered in a multilateral negotiation.

• The EU has been willing to discuss the use of sensitive products. Even here the charge of protection is not justified: sensitive product tariffs will still be cut, and their tariff rate quota levels expanded to allow new market access.

• The EU estimates that the EU offer would allow around 800000 new tonnes of beef imports every year even if beef was designated a sensitive product. That is more than the current beef exports of Argentina and about 7 billion new hamburgers every year.

• As the EU removes its protection its exports will fall and new markets will be opened for others - including the US. The EU will reduce its exports of sugar by 5 million tones, of fresh milk by 8 million tones. EU poultry exports would fall by a quarter.

• The EU offer will impact on EU farm jobs and livelihoods: the EU stands to lose billions of euros in annual farm receipts.

• If the market access being insisted on by the US is to the farm markets of the developing world - and US arguments suggest that it is - then we need to ask how that sits with the goals of a development round.