World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization negotiations on agriculture resulted in increasing inequalities between the countries of the North and those of the South. Because it takes into account neither forms of production (sustainable or not) nor producers, because it encourages agricultural exports, the agreement favors intensive agriculture to the detriment of family farming. It is special and differentiated treatment to the benefit of industrial forms of agriculture and of exports. Yet agricultural activity cannot be been reduced to an economic activity like any other, whether from the point of view of producers or from that of consumers. For reasons of food security, the environment, and the economy, it is necessary on the contrary to protect diversified family farming. This does not imply rejecting trading in food. Such trade is acceptable and desirable provided that it is fair.

The document expresses a series of proposals for an effective application of the principle of food sovereignty within the rules of international trade, which entails two general conditions: the recognition of food sovereignty as a human right, and a change in how the WTO works.

Contact

RONGEAD (Réseau d’ONG Européennes sur l’Agro-alimentaire, le Commerce, l’Environnement et le Développement)
14 rue Antoine Dumont 69372 Lyon Cedex 08 - France
rongead@rongead.org http://www.rongead.org