WTO round is threat to food, nature: Farmers

Farmers from Europe, Africa, Asia and Canada warned the WTO on July 22, 2008 that a trade deal being negotiated this week could ruin small farmers, harm the environment and increase hunger.

On the second day of crucial talks seeking a breakthrough to rescue the 'Doha' trade liberalisation round, groups representing small-scale farmers told WTO chief Pascal Lamy the proposals were dangerous and unacceptable.

"Further trade liberalisation will benefit large-scale corporate farming and multinational traders at the expense of small-scale, vulnerable farmers, hindering agricultural and rural development in countries which need it most," the farm groups said in a statement handed to Lamy.

The Doha Round aims to open markets for farm exports from developing countries and limit the huge subsidies paid to farmers in Europe and North America which skew the market against agriculture in the developing world.

The coalition of farmers from the wealthy and highly subsidised European Union and producers from some of the world's poorest countries, in east Africa, showed battle lines at the Geneva talks were not based on purely 'north' versus 'south'.

Pekka Pesonen, head of EU farm lobby COPA-COGECA, said the big winners of the proposed liberalisation would be large-scale farm exporters, some of which are in the EU, but mostly in Brazil, Argentina, the US and Australia. While not against liberalisation per se, he said the rules had to allow for subsidies and tariffs to be used to protect livelihoods, the environment and local food production.

European farmers have long been protected by high import tariffs and subsidies totalling more than 40 billion euros a year. But they are concerned the EU could bargain away too much in reducing import tariffs in the WTO talks while the Africans fear their domestic producers will be squeezed out of their home market by powerful foreign exporters if their tariffs come down.

"We fear that the proposals currently on the table in the WTO will undermine the ability of many countries throughout the world to provide their citizens with urgently needed food security and stability," said the statement, which was also signed by farm groups from India, South Korea and Sri Lanka. (Source: Trade Observatory)

July 23, 2008