On August 17th 2001 the EU Agriculture Commissioner Fischler highlighted the incoherence between the US decision to grant US$ 5.5 billion in farm relief aid and its demand that agricultural policies be more market orientated.  Fischler complained that this aid programme "inevitably impacted on production and hence prices in both the US and international markets".  He complained that these handouts served to remove US agriculture even further from market influences.  Fischler argued that it was unacceptable that US $ 30 billion of such aid can avoid WTO discipline because of weaknesses in WTO rules.  Fischler complained that at an annual average of US $ 11,000 per farmer this is almost three times the level received by EU farmers (US $ 4,500).