Great news everyone!

[andrewducker]

The amazing news is that a WTO subgroup has agreed tariff changes that will make it far, far easier for developing countries to sell crops to the developed world, and reduce the subsidies that we pay our own farmers, lifting hundreds of millions of farmers, their famillies and villages out of poverty.

Last week, a political battle was concluded that will probably have consequences for far more people than last week's UK general election.

At a low-key meeting in Paris, a group of anonymous technocrats finally reached an agreement that brightens the prospects of - literally - billions of people.

At stake was the pressing need for a fairer international trading system - particularly in agriculture. Campaign groups like Oxfam rightly protest that farmers in the EU (and US) operate behind high tariff barriers, while receiving subsidies of over $1bn (£530m) per day.

The EU shift came only days after the WTO confirmed its ruling that subsidies to European sugar farmers are illegal. "After that, the writing was on the wall," says a European Commission official. "We faced intense pressure, not only from member states, but from trade campaigners too".

Once all member states agree, finalising detailed contracts takes at least a year. So the WTO's Hong Kong summit in December is the real deadline for Doha.

With that in mind, last week's climb-down shows the big Western powers now take the rest of the world seriously.

"Several big Asian and Latin American countries are now major commercial players," says the Commission official. "We have to adjust to that, and if we don't do it through the WTO, the alternative is far more painful".

Full article here.

Comments

[stillcarl.livejournal.com]

I suspect what he meant was that up till now a few people, some who were already well-off, had been managing to get themselves subsidized at the European tax-payers' expense, never mind their potential competitors on the other side of the world. I'm sure there was a certain amount of conspiring to bring that about and keep it in place.

Here in NZ we gave up (most/all?) farm subsidies a couple of decades ago for the rather obvious reason that it didn't make much sense to subsidize our primary industry. It was painful for some though - Western World farmers can be just as attached to their land as a native to their forest - or any similar comparison you'd care to think of.

[andrewducker]

I'm sure there was a certain amount of conspiring. But when people talk about conspiracy theories they start talking about these groups as if they had control - and if modern politics has taught us anything it's that there isn't anyone in control.