African and European farmers say no to EPAs and no to a WTO agreement in HKG
ROPPA (Réseau des Organizations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles d’Afrique de l’Ouest)
CPE (European Farmers Coordination)
CBB (Confédération des Betteraviers Belges)
FWA (Fédération Wallonne de l’Agriculture), Belgium
COAG (Coordinadora de Agricultores y Ganaderos), Spain
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, December 1, 2005
African and European farmers say:
No to Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the ACP countries and no to a WTO agreement in Hong Kong.
Both agreements are based on the same principles that are detrimental to sustainable family farming and development.
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA)
We remind that European integration has been based, among other things, on agriculture and on the principle of favouring regional markets by means of the community preference. That strategy should be applied to West Africa and to the other ACP countries.
However the EPAs proposed by the EU to the ACP countries in order to make them compatible with the World Trade Organization do not foster economic partnership and regional integration, on the contrary they strengthen “free” trade.
Such an agreement would seriously harm African family farming by creating competition between African farm produce and cheap farm imports from the EU because of inadequate or nonexistent tariff barriers. Fair trade is only possible between comparable economies with comparable levels of competitiveness.
Thus, the future of many farming products and of millions of families of farmers would be jeopardized. The current trade policies without EPAs are already endangering local poultry farming, beef, cereals, milk, etc... The EU, following the example of other agro-exporting countries, continues to export cheap farm produce while, in parallel, the structural adjustment programmes imposed by the IMF have thoughtlessly reduced the tariff barriers that used to protect African countries.
These ruined families of farmers do not have alternative sources of income because the other economic sectors, and particularly the industrial sector, cannot provide more jobs in West Africa.
Considering that the West African agricultural sector provides income and jobs to more than 80% of the rural population, and that the farming sector is also the driving force of growth in other economic sectors, the farmers organizations reaffirm the essential role of family farming: it is the basis of agriculture in the region, the driving force of economic activity, the primary source of food security and the main weapon against rural poverty.
Moreover, the signatory farmers organizations observe the difficulties West African governments have to face in their attempts to defend their position against the united front of the European Commission led by DG Trade. These governments are also highly dependent on EU money, as the main donor of development aid, which significantly reduces their negotiating power. These negotiating conditions seem neither effective nor fair to us.
As a result, the farmers organizations from West Africa and the European Union are convinced that the EPA talks will lead to an agreement which will be detrimental to family farming unless strong corrective measures are taken.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Although the WTO has never evaluated the results of the Marrakech Agreement, it imposes a complete liberalization of exchanges everywhere and tolerates at the same time a system of direct support for income loss compensation, which the majority of countries cannot afford and which has distorting effects on exports. Furthermore, an evaluation of the effects of this liberalization would show that family farmers are facing crisis and poverty and that the main beneficiaries of the new WTO rules are the transnational corporations.
Both African and European family farming have everything to lose in such a system.
The signatory farmers organizations from Africa and Europe ask for an overhaul of the current agricultural policies, economic agreements and international trade rules on the basis of the following priorities:
– priority to regional integration instead of international trade,
– priority to food crops instead of cash crops,
– ban on the use of domestic subsidies to export at prices below the production costs,
– right to protect domestic markets against cheap imports ,
– both domestic and international supply management .
Concerning more specifically the negotiations on EPAs, we demand that the mid-term review take into account impact assessment studies and the opinion of civil society while recognizing the essential role of the producers’ organizations.
We call upon the governments of the ACP countries and the G90 to resist the multiple pressures from the EU, the USA and the G4, to oppose the EPAs and the WTO agreement in Hong Kong and to stand up for the above mentioned priorities.
Contacts:
ROPPA, Ndiogou Fall, President, phone: + 221 614 17 24
CPE: Gérard Choplin, Coordinator, phone: +32 2 217 31 12
CBB : Jean François Sneessens, tel : 32 2 513 68 98
FWA : Yves Someville, tel :+32 81 60 00 60
COAG : Susana Gaona Sáez, tel : + 32476204913
