EU criticizes U.S. Farm Bill, says trade distorting

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission agriculture experts criticized recent developments in U.S. agriculture policy in a new study published on Wednesday, saying they appeared to move in the direction of further trade distortion.

The study, known as MAP (Monitoring Agri-Trade Policy), singled out a new scheme in last year's U.S. Farm Bill known as the Average Crop Protection Scheme (ACRE), and said it failed to take future international trade commitments into account.

"Because guaranteed revenue under ACRE locks in the price increases of the last two years, the new scheme looks more attractive than the traditional suite of support schemes," the Commission said in a statement.

"The new law, especially the ACRE scheme, seems to have been crafted without future WTO commitments in mind," it said.

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, negotiates foreign trade on behalf of the EU's 27 member countries and also for the Doha Round of trade talks at the World Trade Organization.

If there was a high take-up of the ACRE scheme and prices were to fall, it said, then expenditure could increase sharply above levels seen in recent years and the proposed ceilings for wheat, soybeans and corn could be breached.

"The MAP concludes that U.S. policy appears to be moving in the direction of more trade-distorting support," the statement said.

(Reporting by Jeremy Smith; editing by Sue Thomas)