Ian Christmas, Secretary General of the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), Brussels, has welcomed the outcome of the High-Level Meeting on Steel held Dec. 18 and 19 in Paris as part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meetings.

Speaking on behalf of the IISI Board of Directors, Christmas says, “There is a strong consensus in the industry, worldwide, of the need to ban further government subsidies to the steel industry except to assist with the costs associated with the permanent closure and elimination of steel capacity and certain support for the environment and research and development.”

The work to agree on what is a subsidy and how to eliminate them is just starting, however. “The decision of governments to start negotiations to agree [on] a workable and enforceable code for our industry is a very positive development.  It will be a permanent gain for steel worldwide and the industry is ready to support governments with expert advice as negotiations proceed,” he remarks.

In an extended statement from the OECD, senior government officials from major steel-producing economies have agreed to undertake work immediately on the elements of an agreement for reducing or eliminating what are termed “trade-distorting” steel subsidies at all levels of government.  The statement, along with other related documents can be accessed on the OECD website at http://www.oecd.org.

The IISI is an organization of steel-producing companies and national and regional steel industry associations, federations and research institutes from more than 50 countries.