Dairy industry representatives increasingly view the next round of WTO talks as critical for the U.S. dairy industry, as it seeks to open global markets to more dairy products. U.S. negotiators attending this month's Doha Round in Hong Kong are pushing for lower tariffs and fewer subsidies, but in the past have run into stiff opposition, especially in Europe.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has expressed strong disappointment with the EU's determined effort to include geographic indications protections for food names in the WTO agreement. The EU position would restrict the worldwide use of such food names as parmesan and feta cheese.