New OXFAM Campaign Contradicts Developing Country Demands For WTO Reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2002
Contact: Nick Parker
(510) 654-4400, ext. 229
New OXFAM Campaign Promotes U.S., E.U. Trade Positions:
Position Contradicts Developing Country Demands For WTO Reform
(Oakland, CA) - A new report on trade released by Oxfam International
today undermines the very social movements in the developing world that
Oxfam claims to support. The report, which calls for increased trade
liberalization which many developing country governments and civil
society oppose, is the basis of a new Oxfam campaign.
"Oxfam's report contradicts its own stated mission that ending poverty
requires a global citizen's movement for economic and social justice. We
are disappointed that Oxfam, one of the NGO leaders on food security,
has chosen to undermine the demands of social movements and think tanks
in the South such as Via Campesina, MST, and Focus on
the Global South, which have demanded that
governments must uphold the rights of all people to food sovereignty and
the right to food rather than industry-led export-oriented production,"
said Food First Co-director Anuradha Mittal.
The Oxfam report makes the case that more globalization is what the
developing countries need - echoing the position of United States Trade
Representative (USTR), the European Union (EU), and the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in declaring that "more market access" is the answer.
In doing so, Oxfam contradicts the position of developing country
governments, social movements, and think tanks who call for the WTO to
change its existing rules that are now damaging those nations and to
refrain from taking on new issues, such as investment and procurement,
being pushed by the rich countries. The WTO's developing country members
have a consensus list of 105 changes to current rules called the
"Implementation Agenda" which includes removing domestic food security
subsidy limits and other existing WTO constraints that have hindered
security and growth in the Third World.
"Research at Food First shows that global trade in agriculture has not
provided new market access for poor farmers, but rather has destroyed
the ability of farmers to grow food for their families and communities.
It has resulted in dumping of cheap agricultural products in the Third
World nations while undermining their domestic production," said Mittal.
The Oxfam report calls for more exports from developing countries while
failing to acknowledge that export-oriented agriculture has contributed
to increased global hunger and poverty, and alienated millions of people
from land, water, and seeds. Such export-oriented production has been
promoted at the expense of domestic food security and has lead to further
corporate concentration of the food system.
The Oxfam study uses World Bank and International Monetary Fund data
that has been discredited to argue that trade liberalization will lead
to growth and result in poverty reduction. Rather, the data shows that
growth rates have declined in the two decades of globalization compared
to growth rates in the 20 years before the developing world was
pressured to "structurally adjust" under International Monetary Fund and
trade rules.
"While the study describes some of the problems facing the poor and
developing nations, Oxfam's solution is to promote the very trade
liberalization agenda that has been a source of the problem. If Oxfam
were to stay true to its mission, it needs to pay heed to the
experiences and policy positions of its partners in the South regarding
the trade regime," said Mittal.
Food First, challenges the credibility of Oxfam's approach, which
ignores the solutions offered by farmers movements around the world. The
first priority of farmers is to produce for their families, then to seek
access to the domestic market, before seeking to export.
For more information or to speak with Anuradha Mittal,
please call Nick Parker at (510) 654-4400 ext. 229.
Articles about the Oxfam Trade Report
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