The European Union's farm reform agreed today was a bad deal for the world's poor and would not stop EU economies dumping subsidised goods on to developing countries, aid groups said.
"The final proposals are lame efforts that will do little to end the damage EU subsidies do by undermining Third World farmers," Catholic aid agency CAFOD said.
EU farm ministers agreed to sever the link between farm subsidies and production for most products, a "decoupling" policy that is supposed to reduce the buildup of unwanted surpluses such as the infamous EU butter mountains of the past.
Oxfam said the reform would fail to do that. "These proposals confirm our worst fears, there is nothing to celebrate," Oxfam's Mr Phil Bloomer said.
"European agriculture will still be subsidised to the tune of £30 billion, creating vast surpluses that will be dumped on poor countries."
CAFOD has said EU support for dairy farmers amounts to around €16 billion per year, or over €2 per day for each cow.
This means the average EU cow receives a higher income than half the world's population does, the group has calculated.