At the WTO in Cancun, Mexico:
Arroyo Officials' Farm Trade Reform Proposal Useless, Critics Say

Non-government participants in alternative forums being held alongside the fifth ministerial meeting of the WTO in Cancun, Mexico doubt whether the proposals for reform articulated by Macapagal-Arroyo officials are enough. Agricultural trade imbalances and low farm production will still remain if the proposals are remotely adopted, they say.

By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com  

CANCUN, MEXICO-People's organizations including the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) articulate their demands through protests

Non-government participants in alternative forums held alongside the fifth ministerial meeting of the WTO in Cancun, Mexico doubt whether the proposals for reform articulated by Macapagal-Arroyo officials are enough. Agricultural trade imbalances and low farm production will still remain, they say.

Macapagal-Arroyo officials, led by Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas III, have joined calls by Third World countries at the Sept 10-14 WTO meeting for the reduction of farm subsidies and tariffs in industrialized countries particularly the U.S. and European Union (EU). The subsidies, they asserted, are resulting in the dumping of cheap farm products from the developed countries to the prejudice of Third World countries’ agriculture.

A non-government participant in the alternative peoples’ forums being held in Cancun, Antonio Tujan, Jr., believes that agricultural trade reforms and concessions in the WTO are not enough. Tujan, the research director of IBON Foundation, said in a statement over the weekend that imbalances in world agricultural trade would remain even if the rich countries reduce or eliminate their farm subsidies and tariffs.

“Even if the U.S. or the European Union comply with their commitments, cut-throat competition in world agricultural trade will still be to the gross disadvantage of the Philippines,” Tujan said. “This is because there is an uneven development of agriculture in rich and poor countries.”

Backward agriculture

According to Tujan, Philippine agriculture is primarily backward and reliant on subsistence and the households, while First World agriculture is highly industrialized and commercialized. 

He also argues that Filipino farmers will bear the brunt of calls to reduce government farm support in all countries on the ground that they distort trade. This is similar to what the peasants’ group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) has articulated in a recent forum.

“Government support in the form of subsidies in the production, pricing, marketing, direct payments, etc. must be encouraged not only in strengthening the viability of local agriculture but more importantly, in protecting national food security,” Tujan said. He also points out that even in the developed countries, small farming families are heavily dependent on government subsidy and they should have the right to such support.

“Government proposal to use special safeguard mechanisms in case rich countries refuse to substantially reduce their tariffs and subsidies are not enough to solve the problem of unfair agricultural trade,” Tujan added. “The only protection that will benefit local farmers involves instituting long-term or permanent quantitative restrictions, tariffs, and other forms of restriction.”

According to Tujan, the reforms the Philippine government wants to institute in the WTO are meaningless. “These proposals will not really correct the structural flaws of the AoA or the concept of agriculture globalization,” he said.

The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) aims for the elimination of barriers to trade in agriculture among WTO member countries. Under it, restrictions on agricultural imports shall be replaced with tariffs, while existing tariffs shall be progressively reduced, and eventually tariffication of agricultural products shall be abolished. It also provides for the removal of subsidies on local agricultural products for export.

Farm trade deterioration

Data from Ibon Foundation show that the AoA led to the deterioration of the Philippines’ agricultural trade.  In 1997, the Philippines had an agricultural trade deficit of $764 million; by 2002, it had gone up to $794 million.

Rice imports have increased by 540% and corn imports by 520%, making the Philippines a net importer of food products. The Philippines used to export rice and corn.

“That the rich countries are resisting even such shallow proposals should compel small farmers in the Philippines and other poor countries to further intensify their campaign for the WTO to be taken out of agriculture, “Tujan said.

Anti-WTO protests 

The campaign against the role of the WTO in agriculture is something that farmers’ groups have been taking seriously. In Manila as in other places around the world, they have even taken the lead in protests against a new round of negotiations, which rich countries pushed for in Cancun.

However, violence and other forms of harassment by police forces have marred anti-WTO protests in Manila and Cancun.

Last Sept.  9, at the Philippine Independent Church, a camp-out was staged by Anakpawis, KMP, the fisherfolks’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya, the urban poor organization Katipunan ng mga Damayang Mahihirap, the rural women’s group Amihan, the National Federation of Sugar Workers, and the Coalition for the Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees.

The youth groups Anakbayan, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, National Union of Students of the Philippines, and the League of Filipino Students also participated in the camp-out. Originally, the Manila government had given them permission to camp out at Rizal Park, but informed them at the last minute that they had to look for another place.

The youth groups that participated in the camp-out had earlier formed a broad anti-WTO network, Philippines Out of the WTO Coalition.

The following day, the groups that camped out at the Philippine Independent Church staged a rally near the U.S. embassy. It ended in violence, police truncheoned the protesters, injuring several of them. Six of the protesters were arrested.

That same day, the Cordillera People’s Alliance staged a multi-sectoral rally participated in mainly by indigenous people’s groups.

Three days later, Anakpawis and KMP, together with the Philippine chapter of the International League of People’s Struggle, and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, led a multi-sectoral rally near the U.S. embassy.

Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, various anti-WTO activities have been held not only in the Philippines, but also in other parts of the world. Rallies, fora, and even cultural presentations were held in Mauritius, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Bulatlat.com

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