By Whitney
McFerron
The European
Union, which tied with the U.S. as the world’s biggest farm-product exporter in
2011, signed a plan on cooperating in agriculture with China, the leading global consumer of grains and cotton.
The accord
was signed today in Beijing by EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos and
Han Changfu, China’s minister for agriculture, the European Commission said
today on its website. The plan is intended to address issues including food
security and the environment, with a goal of enhancing trade relations and
sustainability, it said.
Agricultural
exports from the EU were a record 105 billion euros ($132.7 billion) last year
and equaled shipments from the U.S., the commission, the 27-nation bloc’s
executive arm, said last month. China and Hong Kong make up the third-biggest
agricultural import market for
the EU, with shipments climbing by about 2.5 billion euros in 2011.
“Agriculture
is of crucial interest for both China and the European Union,” Ciolos said in a
statement on the commission’s website. “This cooperation plan is a new step in
our commitment to work together to address common challenges -- in particular food security, rural development, food safety
and climate change.”
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