Japanese join IFA in opposition to world trade talks on agriculture

By Ray Ryan

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

JAPANESE farm leaders and the Irish Farmers Association are to work together in outright opposition to the direction of the current world trade discussions on agriculture.

Mamoru Moteki, president of the Japanese farm organisation, JA Zenchu, and IFA president Padraig Walshe discussed the issues before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at a meeting in Dublin yesterday.

Both agreed that food security, the environment, biodiversity, the multi-functionality of agriculture, equivalence of standards and country of origin labelling must all be recognised and protected in any trade deal.

Mr Moteki said while his organisation is not opposed to free trade in itself, the importance of domestic agriculture and the protection of family farms must be prioritised in Geneva.

"The current WTO stance on agriculture does not protect small farmers in real developing countries in Asia or Africa, and does not recognise consumers’ preference for domestically produced food," he said.

Mr Walshe said the globalisation of industrial commodities is totally different from that of agricultural produce.

"The WTO will have to come forward with a new set of trade rules which recognises the importance of food security, environmental protection and biodiversity, and the critical part family farms play in the production of a sustainable supply of high quality food at affordable prices," he said.

Mr Walshe said to date world trade rules have only benefited multinational companies. The present WTO policies will lead to less food being produced globally.

"The biggest losers will be the poorest countries in the world, who aren’t being heard when Brazil, not a developing country from an agricultural point of view, purports to speak for them around the WTO table. Unfortunately, politicians and bureaucrats promoting a WTO deal do not recognise the long-term impact on world food security of their current policies, nor do they see the importance to ensure equivalence of standards between countries to secure fair trading terms for primary producers."

Mr Walshe called on the Government to insist on a re-negotiation of Europe’s position on international agricultural trade before WTO talks resume in Geneva.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, November 17, 2009