	oecd agrees export credit reforms the western industrialised nations have agreed reforms in rules by which they provide credit for exports to developing countries the organisation for economic cooperation and development said the reforms tighten the rules for the use of foreign aid to subsidise export credits in so called mixed credits the oecd said the agreement to be implemented in two stages in july this year and july means the minimum aid component in mixed credits will be raised to pct from pct and to pct for credits covering exports to the world s least developed nations additionally a new formula will be used for calculating the aid element in mixed credits to take account of different interest rates in the exporting countries the nation oecd which hosted the reform negotiations said minimum interest rates for officially subsidised  loans have also been revised with the aim of cutting the subsidies and ending them completely on loans to relatively rich developing countries by july next year the reforms follow several years of pressure by the u s to stop competitors notably france and japan using foreign aid to subsidise exports putting u s firms at a disadvantage oecd officials said the agreement was based on a provisional accord reached in january subject to ratification by member governments some governments including austria had linked their final approval to other  credit issues which would be discussed at a meeting here in mid april they added by raising the minimum amount of aid required in mixed credits the agreement aims to make such hidden subsidies too costly for frequent use a major loophole in the general agreement on tariffs and  has been closed today a senior u s official here commented reuter 
