07/10/06 Doha not finished

Doha not done. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab squelched any notion that the U.S. is ready to pull the plug on the Doha Round of World Trade Organization talks - key to boosting ag trade worldwide. Schwab told a pro-trade deal business coalition - including the American Farm Bureau Federation - Friday that there was no energy or ambition at last month's Geneva ministerial. But that doesn't mean the U.S. is throwing in the towel... SCHWAB: And Schwab called on all WTO members to focus on filling what she calls a black box on market access. SCHWAB: Schwab challenged the developing nations opposed to greater market access through tariff cuts to come to the table. And reiterated her predecessor Rob Portman's remark that the U.S. is not willing to negotiate with itself over cuts in domestic supports in agriculture. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. The overuse of antibiotics in treating routine childhood illnesses is a concern voiced by many pediatricians. They find that some parents literally beg for antibiotic prescriptions, when their children are ill. Yet when antibiotics are used to treat farm animals consumers are on the other side of the coin. In fact to be a certified organic dairy, antibiotics are banned. This can often make it difficult for a veterinarian to treat ill animals and one voiced his frustration to me over loosing organic dairy cattle to diseases that respond to antibiotics, resulting in needless suffering and cruel deaths. Despite any concrete evidence that animal antibiotics are harmful to humans Human activists preach antibiotic fear. As a result of an aggressive campaign by the notably liberal group, Union of Concerned Scientists( who list their among their "critical" causes "cleaner school busses for kids" ) the state of Maine became the first state to issue a meat preference policy stating the state now prefers to buy products from antibiotic free animals. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.