Re: [Futurework] Free Trade kills

[Ed Weick]

Hi Thomas,   Good to hear from you again.  I have no idea of where you are, but welcome back to the Internet.  I hope you don't mind me posting my response to the Futurework list.  I'm sure other list members will be glad to see that you've surfaced again.   The article you refer to, by Ben Bradshaw, says in part: "Given the tendency of farmers to oversupply their markets and thereby bring ruin upon themselves, Canada's dairy, egg and poultry producers long ago sought to limit growth in supply with legislative support from the state. In these sectors, high import tariffs largely restrict foreign competitors. With this protection in place, producers can divide up the domestic market and ensure that supply never outstrips demand. The result has been steady and even reasonable prices for both farmers and consumers.   Elsewhere, this system is seen to provide a considerable subsidy to Canadian producers. According to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canadian dairy farmers receive more support than even their American and European counterparts (and certainly more than other Canadian producer groups).   However, none of this support comes in the form of payments. Further, while the system denies opportunities for southern producers to sell into our market, it does not cause them harm in their own markets. Canadian dairy producers do not depress world markets; they don't even participate in them." An earlier article in the Globe and Mail provided an indication of how many people benefit from the Canadian market arrangements.  It pointed out that about 26,000 farmers work in the dairy, egg and poultry industries in Canada, and produce about $6-billion worth of goods annually, while another 37,000 people work in related processing industries that turn these commodities into food such as cheese and ice cream, selling about $14-billion worth of products a year.   I'm not sure that I favour the arrangements.  Here in eastern Ontario, supply of dairy products is managed by assigning "quotas" to farms, meaning that they are allowed to sell that much milk and no more.  The more quota a farmer has, the more milk he can sell, and, given costs, the better his financial position.  To expand, farmers have to buy quota from other farmers.  New entrants into farming would have to buy quota from established farmers.  Obviously, quota itself has become a valuable and marketable commodity.   Personally, I believe this has led to a high cost, rigid production system.  While it is supposed to be protective of the family farm, which is already largely a thing of myth, cynics say it is protective of the farm vote.  I've heard it said that, if the supply management system and import tariffs were done away with, dairy products would be much cheaper and poor families would be better able to ensure that their kids got enough milk.  I don't think the kids would really care whether the milk came from Canadian or American producers, as long as it was of good quality.   Best regards, Ed > Hi Ed: > > Good place to renew our acquaintance.  After a couple of years without the > Internet, I'm back to my favorite list and so happy to recognize the names > of so many people I have communicated with. > > Just a quick throw of an idea into this discussion - of which I am a > neophyte.  On the Editorial Page of the Globe and Mail - Sept 12 is a > lengthy piece by Ben Bradshaw, page A-17.  Now I know this is not much help > to those who do not have access, but it's 5 am and I don't have the time and > energy to do a search and cut and paste.  Let me just type a little summary > paragraph that made a lot of sense to me. > > Canadian dairy producers do not depress world markets; they don't even > participate in them. > > While such a system, (referring to Canada's supply management system) may be > inconsistent with the doctrine of trade liberalization advocated through the > WTO, it may well be a model for the South (Hemisphere) to consider. > > ---------- > >From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Christoph Reuss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: Re: [Futurework] Free Trade kills > >Date: Sat, Sep 13, 2003, 5:55 AM > > > > > An article in the NYTimes yesterday made the point that dropping subsidies > > to first world farmers and barriers against third world food imports will > > simply encourage agribusiness to move into the third world and displace > > small scale agriculture.  Small farmers who now at least (barely) maintain > > themselves will flock to the slums of huge third world cities. > > > > I saw the impact of this in Sao Paulo, Brazil, an enormous city of 20 > > million.  Many of the people who live in the huge slums had been displaced > > when coffee growing became mechanized big business. > > > > Ed Weick > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Christoph Reuss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 7:04 PM > > Subject: [Futurework] Free Trade kills > > > > > >> Hello Keith and Harry, > >> > >> here's what a S.Korean farmer wrote about FT and farmers: > >> > >> <<Earning money by trade is not the way [small farmers want] to secure > >>   food. My warning goes to all citizens that uncontrolled multinational > >>   corporations and a small number of big WTO members' officials are > > leading > >>   to an undesirable globalisation of inhumane, environment-distorting, > >>   farmer-killing and undemocratic [policies]. It should be stopped > >>   immediately, otherwise the false logic of neo-liberalism will perish the > >>   diversity of global agriculture and [bring] disaster to all.>> > >> (full text below) > >> > >> Is this farmer a "fat cat", Harry ? > >> How does this compare to the FT myths dished up in the FT, Keith ? > >>                          (FreeTrade)            (FinancialTimes) > >> Chris > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1040231,00.html > >> > >> Cancun Diary > >> > >> Farmer who got a hearing by kiiling himself at WTO talks had written > >> article telling of peasants' ruin > >> > >> > >> The Guardian (London)  Friday September 12, 2003 > >>         John Vidal and David Munk in Cancun > >> > >> Lee Kyoung-Hae had written about his plight, but few had read his words. > >> He had protested about the way he and other peasant farmers were being > >> bullied out of business, but felt he was being ignored. > >> > >> Yesterday Lee finally got the World Trade Organisation to focus on the > >> ruinous policies that have left farmers in his native South Korea on the > >> brink of disaster, but it took his death - by his own hand - to turn > >> global attention his way. > >> > >> His suicide on Wednesday during a farmer's day march shocked everyone > >> gathered in Cancun for the WTO conference. Lee had been at the head of a > >> delegation of more than 300 Korean farmers and trade unionists marching > >> towards the conference centre. The Koreans, disciplined and all wearing > >> white sleeveless shirts and grey jackets, were chanting "No to WTO". > >> > >> When the march reached the checkpoint that separates the luxury hotel zone > >> where the official delegates stay from Cancun town the Koreans tried to > >> pull the fence down. In the melee, Lee, without telling anyone or making a > >> speech, pulled out a knife and plunged it into his heart. The cry went up > >> for a doctor. After about 10 minutes, the crowd parted and he was carried > >> out by six men. > >> > >> An insight into what drove Lee to take his own life may be found in an > >> article he wrote last month for the Korean AgroFood magazine. > >> > >> "I am 56, a farmer from South Korea who has strived to solve our problems > >> ... but who has mostly failed like many other farm leaders elsewhere," he > >> said. > >> > >> "Soon after the Uruguay round of the Gatt (now the WTO) was signed in 1992 > >> [opening Korean markets to rich countries and allowing the dumping of rice > >> and other foods] we farmers realised that our destinies were out of our > >> hands. We could do nothing but watch our lovely rural communities being > >> destroyed. To make myself be brave, I searched for the real reasons for > >> this." > >> > >> Lee, a former MP, concluded that WTO policies had led directly to the > >> impoverishment of hundreds of millions of small farmers worldwide and in > >> February this year he set up a one-man protest, living in a tent outside > >> the WTO offices in Geneva with banners reading "WTO Kills". > >> > >> "I am crying out my words to you that have boiled so long in my body," he > >> said. "It is a fact that since the WTO agreement, we have never been paid > >> our production costs. Sometimes prices dropped to a quarter of what they > >> used to be. How would your emotional reaction be if your salary dropped > >> suddenly to a half without knowing clearly the reason?" > >> > >> Many Korean farmers, said Lee, had left for the urban slums. Others had > >> accumulated huge debts. "Once I ran to a house where a farmer abandoned > >> his life by drinking a toxic chemical because of his uncontrollable debts. > >> I could do nothing but listen to the howling of his wife. If you were me, > >> how would you feel?" > >> > >> Like many others in poorer countries newly opened to free trade, Lee > >> rejected the WTO mantra that the world's peasant farmers could trade their > >> way out of trouble. They were not able to compete with rich-country > >> subsidies, and needed protection, he said. > >> > >> "Earning money by trade is not the way [small farmers want] to secure > >> food. My warning goes to all citizens that uncontrolled multinational > >> corporations and a small number of big WTO members' officials are leading > >> to an undesirable globalisation of inhumane, environment-distorting, > >> farmer-killing and undemocratic [policies]. It should be stopped > >> immediately, otherwise the false logic of neo-liberalism will perish the > >> diversity of global agriculture and [bring] disaster to all." > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Futurework mailing list > >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > Ed Weick