Farm subsidies have long been a barrier to free trade agreements.
Global agricultural subsidies declined by 2 percentage points in 2006 from the previous year to a total of US$268 billion ($364.92 billion), the OECD said today.
The amount of money given to farmers thus represented some 27 per cent of their income among the OECD's 36 members, news
agency AFP reported today.
The European Union remains by far the largest provider of subsidies at US$138 billion, way ahead of Japan with US$41 billion, the United States on US$29 billion and South Korea's US$25 billion, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
South Korean farmers receive the highest proportion of their revenues from subsidies, however, at nearly two-thirds (63 per cent), followed by Japan (53 per cent), the European Union (32 per cent) and the US (11 per cent).
Korea's subsidy level remained stable from 2005 to 2006, while it fell by two percentage points in both Japan and the EU, and by five points in the US, where subsidy levels are closely linked to prices.
"Agricultural policies in 2006 were implemented in the context of generally stronger world prices for agricultural commodities," the OECD said in its report.
Agricultural subsidies are a key sticking point in efforts to secure a new global trade deal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The WTO's Doha Round, which was launched in the Qatari capital in 2001, should have ended in 2004 with an agreement to cut barriers to trade in farm produce, industrial goods and services.
But it has been dogged by long-standing disputes between wealthy and developing nations, especially on protective barriers for agriculture, as well as between the European Union and the United States on the same issue.
