IATP Pushes for Fair Trade Rules in Cancun; Agriculture, Patents and New Issues on the Agenda

9/8/2003

From: Ben Lilliston of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 301-270-4787 or blilliston@iatp.org Cell phone (Cancun): 044-998-860-66-32

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 8 -- Staff from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy will travel to Cancun next week for the World Trade Organization's Fifth Ministerial to press negotiators to adopt fair trade rules that improve prices paid to farmers.

In Cancun, IATP will host three concurrent events at the WTO Cancun meeting -- the International Fair Trade Fair, a Sustainable Trade Symposium, and the Fair Trade in the Americas Forum. WTO ministers have been invited to attend and learn first-hand how Fair Trade is keeping communities alive during the two-year record low in world market coffee prices. Artisans and farmers from 20 countries, producing everything from Brazil nuts to textiles, will demonstrate how Fair Trade rules have worked to strengthen their communities.

"There is a real opportunity for the WTO and the U.S. government to incorporate Fair Trade principles in developing new trade rules," said IATP President Mark Ritchie. "The Fair Trade movement has flourished largely because the WTO-driven, free trade model has failed to respond to the needs of poor countries."

IATP has highlighted some of the key areas of negotiation in a series of six new white papers now available at: http://www.tradeobservatory.org:

no. 61623; United States Dumping on World Agricultural Markets

no. 61623; World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture Basics

no. 61623; The WTO Services Agreement: Possible Impacts on Agriculture

no. 61623; WTO Decision-Making: A Broken Process

no. 61623; The TRIPs Agreement: Who Owns and Controls Knowledge and Resources

no. 61623; Water Services Under the World Trade Organization

IATP's trade web site will cover the Cancun Ministerial: http://www.tradeobservatory.org

For more information about Fair Trade events go to: http://www.fairtradeexpo.org.

To reach IATP experts in Cancun monitoring the negotiations, contact Ben Lilliston at: blilliston@iatp.org or Cancun cell: 044-998-860-66-32

IATP has been monitoring the impact of the WTO and international trade rules on family farmers in the U.S. and around the world for 15 years. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy promotes resilient family farms, rural communities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy.