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20 May 2002 (Business Times) -THE proposed RM12 billion project to doubletrack Peninsular Malaysia’s main railway lines, announced a year ago, ison hold until the Transport Ministry issues the “statement of need” tocontractors — India’s Ircon International Ltd and China RailwayEngineering Corp.Double-tracking refers to the construction of a new track parallel to theexisting one to enable uninterrupted two-way train traffic.Ircon, responding to an e-mail query by Business Times, said it is readyto proceed with the project, but had not received the document whichspecifies the broad technical parameters and contract conditions for theproject from the Transport Ministry yet.Its managing director B.S. Kapur said the “statement of need” will pavethe way for the project to start by the middle of next year.The agreement for the project was supposed to have been signed lastDecember, but it has been delayed due to a variety of reasons.Among these are difficulties in costing. The RM12 billion is supposed tobe paid for in kind, that is palm oil, rather than cash.The fluctuating price of the commodity has complicated the process ofestimating how much will be needed to finance the project, according toindustry observers.“The statement of need by the Malaysian Government may be issued to Irconby end-May and it will form the basis of Ircon’s proposal,” Kapur said.“Ircon will then be given eight weeks to submit its technical andfinancial proposals to the Government.“This will be followed by negotiations which will culminate in anagreement between the Malaysian Government and Ircon,” said Kapur.Malaysia endorsed the participation of China and India in the railwayproject under a RM12 billion counter-trade programme involving payment incrude palm oil for work done.The endorsement was pledged in a memorandum of understanding, which wassigned during Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s official visitto Malaysia.The deal will see the delivery of some 8 million tonnes of the commodityover a period of five to six years to both India and China.Malaysia has agreed to parcel out the project to Ircon and a consortiumled by China Railway Engineering Corp.Ircon, which is a state-run engineering and construction firm, willundertake double-tracking and electrification works for the northern gridspanning 338.8km that links Ipoh with Padang Besar. The parcel isestimated to be worth RM6 billion.China Railway and local partners — DRB-HICOM Bhd, Emrail Sdn Bhd and KienHuat Group — will work on the 297km southern grid linking Seremban andJohor Baru, also valued at RM6 billion.The railway forms part of the Trans-Asia Rail Grid stretching fromSingapore to Kunming in south China.“The Ipoh-Padang Besar project has many complex features so thenegotiations are likely to be time-consuming,” Kapur said.He was unable to comment on when the project would get going as it is inthe hands of the Transport Ministry.“It is, therefore, not possible for us to indicate when the agreement willactually be signed and when work on the project will actually commence,”according to Kapur.He did say, however, that a field survey and data collection are alreadybeing carried out by Ircon’s 27 workers based in Malaysia.“Taking into account the time period of about five to six months foracquisition of land by the Government, the actual construction in thefield may start by middle of 2003,” said Kapur.He confirmed the funding for the project would be against export of palmoil to India. However, the actual modalities have yet to be worked outbetween Ircon and the Government.He said the likely cost of the project would be known only after thestatement of need, which would indicate the detailed specifications, isreceived.On a separate issue, Kapur said the project would not be delayed eventhough Ircon’s former managing director Shri Arun Prasada is underinvestigation by the Indian authorities for alleged graft.There was an article in the Indian Express on March 9 this year which saidthe project may be delayed due to the investigation, but Kapur firmlydenied it.“The investigation in question is due to certain procedural lapses and itwill not have an effect on the execution of the project,” said Kapur.He said Ircon is a public sector undertaking under India’s RailwaysMinistry and the selection as well as superannuation of senior executivesof Government undertakings follow well laid out procedures by the IndianGovernment.“There is no question of external influence having any role to play inthese procedures and the previous managing director Arun Prasada hassuperannuated on January 31 2002 on attaining the age of 60 years as perGovernment rules,” said Kapur. To strengthen Ircon’s commitment in theproject, Kapur said the company has already set up a strong team inMalaysia headed by project director Shri A.P. Mishra, a senior railwayofficer with over 25 years of experience.Ircon first started operations in Malaysia in 1988 and has completed twoprojects which include double-tracking a 10km railway line in the Port ofTanjung Pelepas, Johor.Headquartered in New Delhi since 1976, the company is currently leasing 30locomotives to KTM Bhd.India has one of the world’s oldest and largest rail networks with 7,000trains plying its 130,000km tracks in a day carrying 12 millionpassengers.

PORT DICKSON, May 19 (Bernama) -- The government was Sunday asked toabolish the 20 per cent quota on the export of palm oil.Guthrie Berhad Group chief executive Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said itwas time to abolish the export quota and have an open market."I think it's time for Malaysia to be more internationalised. In fact theWTO (World Trade Organisation) has asked us not to put any curbs on ourexports," he told reporters after taking part in the group's tenniscompetition, here.He said that if Malaysia did not lift the quota it would face curbs fromother countries.For example, he said, Indonesia had reduced its quota to less than fiveper cent compared with 80 per cent previously."So Indonesia's exports will be more than ours...and our country's overallearnings will also be reduced," he said.He also said that with the quota, there would be too much stock in thecountry, and the prices would fall.He said Malaysia now produced more than 12 million tonnes of Crude palmoil a year.He added that the government should be proactive in the matter so thatMalaysia could continue to compete in the world market. --BERNAMA(The informations and opinions expressed in this article represent theviews of the author only. They should not be seen as necessarilyreflecting the views of Palm News)

17 May 2002 (Business Times) - MALAYSIA and Indonesia are expected tobenefit from a squeeze in vegetable oil supplies in China due to severeweather conditions in the republic.Malaysian Palm Oil Association chief executive M.R. Chandran said China isexpected to face a shortfall of between 500,000 tonnes and 750,000 tonnesin its current rapeseed harvest.“This will put pressure on the republic to increase its intake of palm oilfrom Malaysia and Indonesia in the next month or so,” Chandran toldBusiness Times in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.“Probably for this reason, China held back purchases earlier in theyear... it wanted to wait until rapeseed harvesting started, then decideon imports,” he said.China was the third biggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil last year, taking1.28 million tonnes worth RM1.23 billion.India and the European Union were the top two customers last year, buying2.03 million tonnes and 1.601 million tonnes, respectively.According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website, palm oil exports toChina were a sluggish 40,573 tonnes in January before surging to 136,712tonnes in April.“Should monthly sales to China be maintained at the 150,000-tonne level, Iam optimistic total exports to the republic will hit 1.6 million-1.8million tonnes this year,” Chandran added.China capped palm oil imports at 1.4 million tonnes last year but hasincreased the quota to 2.4 million tonnes for this year following itsformal entry into the World Trade Organisation in December 2001.Malaysia and Indonesia are the world’s top two producers and exporters ofpalm oil respectively.Last year, Malaysia produced 11.803 million tonnes of the commodity, ofwhich 10.61 million tonnes were exported to 140 countries. Indonesiaproduced 7.48 million tonnes and sold 4.8 million tonnes abroad.

20 May 2002 (Business Times) - PALM oil, whose prices are improving oflate, is now less popular in India where the vegetable oil is slapped witha higher duty than arch-rival soyabean oil.

14 May 2002 (Businessn Times) -MALAYSIA’S estimated 1.2 millionsmallholders may fully consolidate as a single force at least by 2007 as apreparation to face fierce competition brought about by globalisation.Agriculture Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Effendi Norwawi said the consolidationwave in Malaysia has begun but it will be between three and five yearsbefore all smallholders fully realise the need to consolidate.“To date, a total of 200,000ha farms involving 160,000 farmers in 4,500projects have paved the way by consolidating,” Mohd Effendi told reportersin Kuala Lumpur yesterday.“Of the 4,500 projects, about 660 involving 20,000 farmers have undergonethe ISO 9002 accreditation process.“I admit that it is not going to be an easy task consolidatingsmallholders but hopefully these 20,000 farmers can lead the way and set aprecedence to others,” said Mohd Effendi.Earlier, he opened a seminar on challenges facing smallholders all overthe world as they move towards globalisation.Efforts to consolidate smallholders’ plots of land, which are mostly lessthan 1ha with crops such as rubber, oil palm, fruits and poultry, have notbeen easy to be implemented.This is due to the fact that smallholders are generally comfortable withtheir old agricultural, management and planting methods, causing them tobe reluctant or slow in accepting changes.Furthermore, various government ministries and agencies have not beenstreamlined to merge the smallholding sector.Rubber smallholders, for example, are under the care of the RuralDevelopment Ministry but the commodity itself comes under the purview ofthe Primary Industries Ministry.Furthermore, a smallholder’s land may have several benificiaries whichcomplicate matters should the titleholder pass away.“Paddy farmers, for example, may hang on to the subsidy mentality becausethey knows the Government will help them should prices fall.“But I don’t see them surviving if they hang on to traditional methodsbecause globalisation will set in and they have to compete with otherpaddy producers,” said Mohd Effendi.He added that the only way smallholders can compete in the world marketagainst large, efficient and professionally-run global companies is bygrouping together.“Scattered farms which merge as a single farm with a central managementemploying the best agricultural practices, technology, mechanisation andmanagement can increase productivity, quality and reduce cost,” MohdEffendi said.He added that the Government will not rest on its laurels and will furthercontinue to step up efforts to upgrade the sector, which includesapplication of biotechnology, precision agricultural production andcontrolled-environment farming.

14 May 2002 (Business Times) - PLANTATION-based TSH Resources Bhd willinvest about RM40 million to construct a 10- megawatt (MW) biomass powerplant in Sabah.“We are currently negotiating with the State Government to sell a portionof the power we produce and, if everything goes well, the plant will startoperations in the third quarter of 2003,” said group managing directorDatuk Kelvin Tan.He said the power plant will use the empty fruit bunches (EFB) from itstwo existing palm oil mills, which produce about 700 tonnes of EFB a day.“With the biomass plant, the company will be able to turn waste intoenergy and will generate income from it,” Tan said.He added that the additional income will benefit TSH Resources and enhanceits competitiveness in the oil palm industry.TSH Resources currently generates 1MW of biomass energy for usage in itsmills.“We are also planning to build another palm oil mill in Sabah, which willhave a capacity to process 450,000 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) ayear,” Tan said.The new mill, which will be operational in the first quarter of 2003 andcost about RM25 million, will be the biggest in the company and will boostits processing capacity to a total of 1.05 million tonnes of FFB a year.Tan said the company is also trying to promote the use of hardwoodflooring in Malay-sia. “Our subsidiary, TSH Ekowood Sdn Bhd, currentlyexports over 90 per cent of its products. Initially, we hope to increaselocal sales to 10 per cent,” he said.TSH Ekowood is the largest hardwood flooring manufacturer in Malaysia,producing 12 million sq ft of products and contributing about 40 per centto the group’s earnings.Tan was speaking to the media after signing an agreement for an Islamicprivate debt securities scheme with Aseambankers (M) Bhd and four otherunderwriters.Aseambankers is the adviser and lead arranger for the programme whileAffin Discount Bhd, Malaysia Discount Bhd, Maybank Discount Bhd andMalaysian Trustees Bhd are the underwriters.Under the programme, TSH Resources will raise RM100 million through theissuance of Al-Murabahah Commercial Papers and Medium Term Notes.“For now, the amount of RM100 million (to be) raised plus our internalfunds will be sufficient for the company to carry out all its expansionplans,” Tan said.Despite the fund-raising exercise, the company’s gearing level will remainlow at 0.4 times by the end of the year.The tenure of the programme is up to seven years from the date of thefirst issuance. During the period, TSH Resources can issue commercialpapers (CP) of between one and 12 months and medium term notes (MTN) ofbetween one and seven years.Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd has assigned a long-term rating of A+ for theMTN and a short-term rating of MARC-2 for the CP.On the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange yesterday, TSH Resources shares weretraded 1 sen higher at RM2.12 with 19,000 shares changing hands.

PARIS, May 16 (Reuters) - French oilseeds and protein producers onThursday condemned the new U.S. farm bill boosting crop and dairysubsidies and urged the European Commission to fight back, possibly withinthe World Trade Organisation (WTO)."The new U.S. farm law is totally blameworthy because it totally floutsthe commitments made at the WTO," Xavier Beulin, President of the Frenchoilseeds and protein growers' group FOP told Reuters at the margin of itsannual congress in Paris."It's not the moment for the European Union to drop its guard," headded.U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday signed a six-year law boostingcrop and dairy subsidies by 67 percent, adding an estimated $6.4 billion ayear to farm spending and marking a further retreat from free-marketreforms begun in 1985.The fatter subsidies will become available at harvest -- just weeksaway for the drought withered winter wheat crop.The FOP said it was shocked the U.S. farm bill incorporatedmarketing loans which in its view are against international trade rulesand should be challenged at the WTO.Beulin said that the European Oilseeds Association (EOA), that heheads, would soon lodge a complaint called 'regulation for trade obstacle'to the Commission on the U.S marketing loans for soybeans growers.The lobby's complaint could speed up action at EU level as it wouldforce the EU executive to give, within a short period of time, its opinionon the rightfulness of launching a panel at the WTO on the perverseeffects of the soybeans marketing loans.

NEW DELHI, May 16 (Reuters) - India announced on Thursday that it hadraised the base import price of crude palm oil to $344 from $314 a tonne.India, the world's largest edible oil importer, mainly buys palm oilfrom Malaysia and Indonesia and soybean oil from Argentina and Brazil.It said in a notification that the base import price of refined,bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil had also been hiked to $365 from$341 per tonne.The government raised the base price of RBD palm olein to $375 a tonnefrom $349.It fixed the price of crude palm olein at $362 a tonne from theprevious $334.The government had left the base import prices unchanged in an earliernotification issued early May.India fixes the base prices to check loss of revenue due tounder-invoicing by some importers.Traders pay import duties on tariff values fixed by the governmentirrespective of the price at which they purchase oils.The country imposes a basic import levy of 85 percent on refined oil,65 percent on CPO and 45 percent on soybean oil.

WASHINGTON 5/14/2002 (AP)- President Bush on Monday signed a $190 billionfarm bill guaranteeing higher subsidies to growers in Midwestern andSouthern states where key political races will decide which party controlsCongress next year.At an early morning ceremony, Bush said the six-year bill ``will provide asafety net for farmers, and will do so without encouraging overproductionand depressing prices''- a position contrary to what administrationofficials argued when the bill was being written.The subsidies could help Bush in his quest to win back control of theSenate for the GOP, while giving him a chance to rack up IOUs for his own2004 re-election effort.``If he had vetoed it, it would have been very disappointing,'' saidMinnesota farmer Nathan Johnson. ``In the 2000 election, almost all of theagricultural areas voted for President Bush. They expected his support ...and we certainly have gotten it.''Some senators already are making plans to provide farmers with even moremoney this year in the form of a disaster-aid package for weather-relateddamage to 2001 crops.The new farm law will increase spending by nearly 80 percent over the costof continuing existing programs at a time when the president has beencalling on lawmakers to show fiscal restraint. The bill is estimated tocost $190 billion over the next 10 years, although the programs must berenewed after six.The signing ceremony was scheduled for 7:45 a.m. EDT, assuring widecoverage by farm broadcasters while minimizing exposure elsewhere in thecountry. Bush said his timing was a nod to farmers who get up early everyday to produce America's food. He was flanked by farm-state lawmakers fromboth parties who hope to benefit politically from the measure.Bush senior political adviser Karl Rove had told GOP senators recentlythat Bush would not stage a high-profile signing ceremony to avoidantagonizing conservatives upset with the bill's price tag, a personfamiliar with that meeting said.``It looks as though Bush is concerned about allowing the Democrats tocreate some domestic issues,'' said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.Republicans have been burned by farm issues before: In 1986, unhappinesswith GOP farm policy helped Democrats win at least two Senate seats. Inthe heat of the 1998 campaign, President Clinton vetoed a GOP farm-aidpackage and forced lawmakers to add substantially more money.Ken Cook, a critic of the bill who is president of the EnvironmentalWorking Group, said Bush was in a no-win situation. ``Certainly, it was aloser to stand on principles here when the politics are so overwhelming.''One of the bill's biggest beneficiaries is expected to be SenateAgriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat facingre-election this fall who stood behind Bush during the ceremony. Harkinsaid the bill ``is the economic plan for rural America.''The administration had complained that both Senate and House bills fromwhich the final law was fashioned would encourage price-depressing cropsurpluses. Some Republicans implored him to veto it even after the signingceremony was scheduled.The European Union, Canada, Australia and other countries also havecriticized the bill, saying the larger subsidies would harm U.S. effortsto lower international trade barriers.``I would love to see him veto it. It is a budget buster,'' Sen. DonNickles, R-Okla., said on ``Fox News Sunday.''The bill gives farmers incentive to overproduce, Nickles said, predictingit will eventually force farm prices down. ``I don't think that helpsfarmers in the long run,'' he said.The farm bill raises subsidy rates for grain and cotton growers andrevives a target-price system abolished by the 1996 Freedom to Farm law toprovide supplemental income when commodity prices are below certainlevels.The bill also brings back subsidies for wool and honey producers andprovides new payments for milk, peanuts, lentils and dry peas. Farms thatraise livestock and produce will benefit from an 80 percent increase inspending on land-conservation programs.Support for the 1996 law dropped after commodity prices plummeted in 1998and Congress responded with a series of annual bailouts of the farmeconomy. The new law, which essentially continues those bailouts,initially was expected to cost about $170 billion over the next 10 years.However, weaker-than-expected commodity prices are now expected to causecrop subsidies to rise and push the cost up.

VANCOUVER, May 9 (CNW)-- Calorie counting consumers fighting the battle ofthe bulge may have a new weapon in the fight against fat.Canadian biotechnology company Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. has developed acooking oil, which in a recently completed clinical trial was shown tohelp people lose weight and lower their cholesterol levels.In a clinical study conducted at McGill University in Montreal, 24 healthymen on a controlled diet incorporating Forbes' "designer oil" showed astatistically significant (p less than 0.05) decrease in total body weighttissue volumes in the range of 0.36 to 0.51 kg (0.8 lbs. and 1.1 lbs.) in28 days. Study participants who received olive oil in their diet (controlgroup) did not demonstrate any changes in body compartment volumes. Inaddition, consumption of designer oil resulted in a decrease of LowDensity Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations of 16.3 per cent."This is the first statistically significant data demonstrating designeroil's ability to reduce body weight. Generally, fats and oils contributeto body weight gain not reduction. Forbes' designer oil could be used as afat replacement for people trying to manage their weight with the addedbenefit of reducing LDL cholesterol levels, and thus providing aprotective effect against cardiovascular disease, a significant riskfactor for overweight people," said Dr. Jerzy Zawistowski, Vice President,Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. "The studyfindings also indicate that long-term consumption of designer oil may leadto further body weight reduction than shown in the 28 day study."A large body of scientific evidence has shown that a diet high in fat isassociated with an increased incidence of obesity, coronary heart disease,hypertension, insulin resistance and certain cancers.Obesity continues to be a growing problem in North America and is reachingepidemic proportions. In 1999, an estimated 61 per cent of U.S. adultswere classified as overweight or obese (BMI greater than 25). Some 300,000Americans die each year from illnesses attributed to obesity (compared tomore than 400,000 deaths a year associated with cigarette smoking). Thetotal direct and indirect costs attributed to overweight and obesity inthe U.S. amounted to US$117 billion in the year 2000.Forbes' designer oil (patent pending in the US and worldwide) hasdemonstrated good sensory properties and oxidative stability and issuitable as a cooking oil. Forbes Medi-Tech is currently in discussionswith food companies in both North America and the Far East who have aninterest in marketing its designer oil. Sales of healthy cooking oils inJapan alone reached 20 billion JPY (US$150 million) in 2001.Forbes' designer oil is formulated with medium chain triglycerides (MCT),plant phytosterols, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. "Medium chaintriglycerides are metabolized in the body differently than other types offats," noted Dr. Peter Jones, Professor, School of Dietetics and HumanNutrition, McGill University. "These oils are oxidized very quickly andburned as energy rather than stored as body fat. The inclusion of plantphytosterols into the oil helps block the absorption of cholesterolresulting in a significant reduction in total and LDL cholesterol."The designer oil clinical study involved 24 healthy men aged 26 to 61years with body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 31 kg/m(2). Studyparticipants were placed on a controlled diet of designer oil or olive oilfor 28 days and switched to the alternate diet after a four-week washoutperiod. Blood samples and magnetic resonance imaging scans were taken ondays 1 and 29 of each experimental phase and energy expenditure wasmeasured by respiratory gas exchange on days 2 and 28.This was the second clinical study Forbes conducted on designer oil. In astudy of 17 healthy, overweight women conducted between October 1999 andMay 2000, the designer oil diet reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 14.5 percent with a corresponding increase in energy expenditure. Forbescommissioned the latest study to determine whether the increased energyexpenditure seen in the original study was statistically indicative ofweight loss. The results of the new study confirm this.Results of this new designer oil clinical study were presented at theInternational Society for the Study of Fats and Lipids (MP) AmericanChemical Society Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, May 5 and 6, 2002.Study results will also be presented to the Institute of Food Technologyin Anaheim, California on June 15-19, 2002, and the International OilCongress in Istanbul, Turkey, August 12-15, 2002.Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. is a diversified health sciences company dedicatedto the research, development and commercialization of innovativenutraceutical and pharmaceutical products derived from nature. Byextracting plant sterols from wood pulping by-products, Forbes isdeveloping cholesterol-lowering agents to be used both as functional foodingredients and pharmaceutical therapeutics in the battle against heartdisease. Forbes is also developing innovative fermentation technology thatconverts plant sterols into pharmaceutical fine chemicals, essential inthe production of various pharmaceutical steroids such as contraceptiveagents and anti-inflammatories. Phytrol(TM) is a registered trademark ofForbes Medi-Tech Inc.The NASDAQ National Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange have notreviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy ofthe content of this News Release. This Press Release containsforward-looking statements concerning anticipated revenue to be receivedby the Company, and other information in future periods. Forward-lookingstatements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain,and actual achievements of the Company and other results and occurrencesmay differ materially from those reflected in the forward-lookingstatements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors,including, without limitation, the Company's need for funding by the thirdquarter of 2002, which funding may not be available to the Company onacceptable terms or at all, uncertainty that the purchaser of the Amquiproperty will make the scheduled payments on time or at all, or that thepurchase and sale transaction will close as anticipated or at all; risksrespecting the completion and outcome of clinical trials; regulatoryrisks; marketing / manufacturing risks; strategic alliance risks;intellectual property risks; risks inherent in functional food andpharmaceutical research and clinical trials which may cause any particularresearch projects and/or clinical trials to be discontinued; the need tocontrol costs and the possibility of unanticipated expenses; uncertaintyas to the Company's ability to successfully increase production quantitiesof AD / ADD on a cost effective basis; risks with respect to foreignoperations including changes in government policies; the need forregulatory approvals to market the Company's sterol-based food ingredient;uncertainty as to market acceptance of the Company's products and theCompany's ability to generate projected sales volumes and product prices;the need for continued cooperation and performance by the Company'sstrategic partners; uncertainty as to the successful conclusion of salesdiscussions currently underway, and of those anticipated, with third partypurchasers. The Company's forward-looking statements are based on thebeliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date thestatements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation toupdate forward-looking statements if circumstances or management'sbeliefs, expectations or opinions should change. For the reasons set forthabove, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-lookingstatements./For further information: please contact: Martin Livingston, Director,Investor Relations, Telephone: (604) 681-8976, E-mail:irinfo@forbesmedi.com; RJ (Don) MacDonald, Chief Financial Officer,Telephone: (604) 689-5899, E-mail: dmacdonald@forbesmedi.com/

May 09, 2002 (AFP) - The US passage of a 173.5 billion-dollar farm subsidybill threatens to injure developing countries, aghast activists, officialsand trade analysts said."It is a very sad day for the poor farmers of developing countries,"said asenior World Bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity a day afterthe US Senate passed the measure.The legislation now goes to President George W. Bush, who has said heintends to sign the 10-year, 173.5 billion-dollar bill into law in theteeth of foreign opposition.Activists pointed out that the United States had been a fierce proponentof free agricultural trade in last November's World Trade Organizationmeeting in Doha, Qatar.That meeting resulted in the so-called Doha Development Round,negotiations promising to phase out global farm subsidies that average sixtimes the estimated 50 billion dollars the rich countries provide annuallyin foreign aid to the developing world."This is one gain that would not only help American farmers and ranchersbut would help lift millions out of poverty in the developing world,"USTrade Representative Robert Zoellick had said at the time, when trying topressure the Europeans into an agreement.Zoellick insisted this week that the United States remained committed tofree farm trade, emphasizing that the European Union and Japan both hadhigher levels of subsidies than the United States.The new US farm bill also contained a circuit breaker that would reducefarm support if it reached WTO limits, he said.But the Europeans were hardly convinced."At a time when all developed countries have accepted the direction offarm support away from trade- and production-distorting measures, the USis doing an about turn,"said European Agriculture Commissioner FranzFischler."We cannot negotiate on the basis of 'Do as I say, not as I do.'"Oxfam America, a strong supporter of greater access to rich countries'markets, said the new bill would have a severe impact on developingcountries."We are absolutely appalled,"said Oxfam America policy department directorJo Marie Griesgraber."For poor farmers in developing countries, it means that imported goodsare much cheaper than what they can produce, so the small farmers are putout of business,"she said."Then you have the flood of immigrants into the cities. Then you have massunemployment and you have unrest. It is increasing poverty. It isincreasing urbanization."Jeffrey Schott, trade economist at the Institute for InternationalEconomics, said the subsidies' passage would complicate the task of USnegotiators in the Doha Development Round."We will need to have significant reforms in the Doha Round if it is goingto succeed, and many of those reforms will benefit developing countries'exporters,"he said."If we cannot move forward in that area, it is going to make it much moredifficult to achieve the objectives that the US and EU have in otherareas, including in manufacturing trade."Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council,agreed."Logically, it would have an adverse impact on most of the rest ofthe world,"he said.It also removed the moral leverage that the United States had enjoyed inthe trade negotiations as it sought to press the Europeans to drop theirattachment to farm subsidies.

JAKARTA, May 13 (Reuters) - The Southeast Asia palm oil market is gettingnervous following more arrivals of soyoil from Argentina, with India, theworld largest edible oils buyer, already showing huge appetite for soyoilbecause of lower prices.Some 200,000 tonnes of soyoil -- a direct competitor of palm oil --from Argentina is expected to arrive in Indian ports every month from Junethrough October, as soybean harvests in the world's third largest growerare set to reach full swing next month."Now most of the problems have stabilised in Argentina and renewedbuying has started from India," a Malaysian trader said."With prices of palm oil at high premiums... June...to October, allthese months, India will take at least 200,000 tonnes of soyoil," headded.The trader said refined bleached deodorised (RBD) palm olein was at$711 a tonne cif India after tax while crude degummed soyoil was at $572 atonne. Even after a refining cost of $25 a tonne, soyoil is still muchcheaper than palm oil.Argentina's financial chaos including default on the national debt anddevaluation of the peso, combined with a slow soybean harvest, halted thecountry's soyoil exports for two months, helping boosting prices of palmoil.Argentina has harvested almost a half its projected 29.5 million-tonnecrop but traders said farmers may continue to retain more merchandise inthe absence of a clear economic plan.India bought around 70,000 tonnes of soy oil from Argentina, Brazil andthe United States in March for April arrivals, traders said."India has bought a little more than 150,000 tonnes of soyoil in May.We may still see some palm oil buying this month but sales will definitelygo down next month," said another Malaysian trader.India is expected to import 450,000 tonnes of palm oil in May from topgrowers Malaysia and Indonesia, traders said.