CANBERRA—Australian farmers say tighter trade restrictions are exacerbating the global food crisis.
Worsening food shortages had prompted some foreign governments to restrict the trade in food, but this "farcical and dangerous charade" served only to compound the problem, the National Farmers Federation said.
Trade restrictions discouraged the world's farmers from growing more food, federation Vice-President Charles Burke said.
"Farmers in Argentina, Kazakhstan, Egypt, the Ukraine and Vietnam, among many others, are actually discouraged from boosting their production to meet world demand owing to poor policy decisions by their governments..
"These actions are, in effect, exacerbating and drawing out the global shortage of food."
Mr Burke also criticised the European Union and the US over trade barriers and subsidies.
Trade restrictions had caused the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of trade liberalisation talks to stall and it was time to resume negotiations, he said.