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WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) NEGOTIATIONS END IN FAILURE
Food sovereignty key to breaking the WTO impasse

The spokesperson for Quebec farmers pointed out that the suspension doesn’t leave world trade without rules. "The agreements already negotiated will continue to apply. This is a good opportunity to reopen the talks based on new negotiating positions that would recognize the right of peoples to food sovereignty."

"The WTO’s attempts to interfere in the domestic farm policies of member countries are what led to the current deadlock. Any agreement on agricultural trade should recognize the right of peoples to define their own agricultural and food policies. The WTO should concentrate on regulating products that are traded on the international market," said Marcel Groleau, Chair of the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec (FPLQ). Groleau added that less than 10% of world food products are traded internationally. Even in Canada, which is the fourth largest exporter of farm products in the world, 70% of farm income is derived from the domestic market.

"The market liberalization proposed by the WTO jeopardizes our ability to feed our own people firstly from locally produced food, at a time when consumers are increasingly asking for fresh, high-quality products, produced locally for the needs of the domestic market," said Martin Dufresne, President of Éleveurs de volaille du Québec (ÉVQ). "In addition, the liberalization imposed on the poorest countries has destroyed their national agricultural base and made them dependent on the world market. Further market liberalization would aggravate the current food crisis which is ravaging much of the planet," said Serge Lefebvre, President of the Fédération des producteurs d’œufs de consommation du Québec (FPOCQ).

"The industrialized countries, in particular the United States and the European Union, will never give up their subsidies. The WTO proposals would only reduce a portion of unallowed subsidies. For allowed subsidies, the door would be wide open. The problem is thus far from being resolved. The only way to avoid dumping and to support the developing countries’ agricultural sector is to facilitate implementation of policies that foster food sovereignty, such as supply management, practised in Canada’s dairy, egg and poultry sectors," concluded Gyslain Loyer, President of the Syndicat des producteurs d’oeufs d’incubation du Québec (SPOIQ).

The proposal which was on the bargaining table, and which the WTO leaders were using as a basis for reaching an agreement, provided for measures incompatible with food sovereignty and put supply management at risk. Producers under supply-management marketing do not need to rely on subsidies and concentrate their efforts on the domestic market. The proposed reductions in customs tariffs would have left them open to unfair competition from heavily subsidized foreign products.

About 8,000 Quebec farms under supply management – dairy, poultry, table eggs and hatching eggs – provide a living for 15,000 producers and their families. The farm cash receipts value is $2.6 billion. The supply-managed sectors generate almost $4 billion in Gross National Product (GNP) and more than 70,000 jobs. For more information on the WTO, supply management and the GO5 Coalition, visit the Web site: http://go5quebec.ca.

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