Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy: New WTO Agriculture Text Falls Short – Again
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2008
3:00 PM
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CONTACT: Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy
Ben Lilliston
612-870-3416
ben@iatp.org
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New WTO Agriculture Text Falls Short – Again
Time for a New Agenda to Fix Global Food and Agricultural Trade
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Minneapolis/Geneva - April 8 - New draft agricultural trade rules released at the World Trade Organization
(WTO) today fail to repair a deeply flawed negotiating agenda, according to the Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy (IATP). This latest attempt to save the Doha Round adds nothing new except more
loopholes and exemptions to an already complicated text.
“WTO negotiators continue to pursue a Doha Agenda that is unpopular all over the world,” said Carin
Smaller, director of IATP’s Geneva Office. “This latest text is not going to reignite passion for a WTO
deal. It is time to build a new set of trade rules that are practical and that enable governments to build
strong, sustainable food and agriculture systems.”
WTO negotiations are deeply hindered by a weakened Bush Administration, which has lost fast track
negotiating authority and is at historically low popularity levels. Additionally, the U.S. Congress has no
appetite for trade deals and presidential candidates are treading cautiously on trade.
“The text looks like a bad repair job,” said Smaller. “The Chair of the Agriculture negotiations, Ambassador
Falconer, has filled in some of the holes, but the basic design remains fundamentally inadequate.
The walls of the house are crumbling down. This latest paint job is not going to fix the problem.”
A poll released yesterday by BBC World Service found that in 22 of 34 countries most people felt that
“economic globalization, including trade and investment” was growing too quickly. And 64 percent in
the 34 countries felt that the economic benefits and burdens of globalization were not fairly distributed.
A series of economic reports by institutions such as the World Bank, the United Nations, Carnegie
Endowment for Peace and Tufts University, have found that the Doha Round will increase inequities
between rich and poor, both among countries and within countries.
Read more on the WTO’s agriculture negotiations at IATP’s trade web site: www.tradeobservatory.org
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works globally to promote resilient family farms, healthy communities
and ecosystems through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy. www.iatp.org
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