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We recognise that if Africa, East Asia, South Asia and Latin America increase their share of world exports by just 1%, it could lift 128 million people out of poverty. 1% increase in Africa’s share of world trade would generate $70 billon – 5 times more than the continent receives in aid and debt relief.
We are calling, first and foremost, on World leaders to ensure that governments, particularly in poor countries, can choose the best solutions to end poverty and protect the environment.
Countries should be allowed to manage their own economies and target those most in need, economic reforms need to be properly sequenced and paced – and countries of south-east Asia are good examples of where this has happened. In fact, what many people do not realise (and what the neo-liberal free traders are keen to cover up) is that the economies of south-east Asia which have developed so successfully over the last three decades (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and so on) have followed almost exactly the same course. They have had state intervention, high levels of social investment in health and education, and relatively egalitarian societies. Free trade, it turns out, is not the cause of economic development, but a consequence of it. The evidence shows that industrial development and poverty reduction require the application of social democratic principles, rather than neo-liberal ones.
Secondly, we want an end to export dumping that damages the livelihoods of poor rural communities around the world.
It is a great hypocrisy and double standard that whilst the rich countries rig the rules of global trade by forcing free trade on poor countries and forbidding them from protecting themselves, they heavily subsidize themselves.
The European Union (EU) subsidizes its domestic agricultural production aggressively. Around half the EU’s annual budget is spent on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Despite recent reforms, current EU policies fail to deliver an environmentally and socially sustainable agricultural sector in Europe. The majority share of benefits continues to go to large-scale farmers and processing companies, and subsidies tend to encourage industrial farming methods, with negative impacts on the environment and development. The dumping of EU agricultural exports, such as sugar, at prices below the cost of production drives down world prices, costing vulnerable households income and poor countries foreign exchange. In some cases, subsidized EU exports also push farmers in developing countries out of local markets. This is unacceptable when more than 70% of the world’s poor depend on agriculture for all or part of their income.
The UK government must use its EU Presidency to bring forward reform of the CAP so that it ends the dumping of agricultural goods on international markets and only supports environmentally and socially sustainable agriculture. The EU support system is re-oriented to deliver sustainable farming, environmental protection, job creation, rural development, support to small-scale farmers, the development of local food economies, and enhancing public health.
Thirdly, we want World leaders to make laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment.
While efforts to encourage the positive impact of companies should continue, new laws are needed to hold increasingly powerful corporations to account for their negative impact. For example, the UK government must follow the Corporate Responsibility principles for business and make reporting of the global social, human rights and environmental impact of UK companies mandatory.
If the Commission for Africa report’s condemnation of enforced liberalisation was a great success, greater still was its endorsement to our vision of trade justice (in all but name). Even if the report did not go far enough in some areas (in particular, in failing to call for effective regulation of multinational corporations operating in Africa).
This change in rhetoric is remarkable, but it needs to be followed up with real change and action. The UK Government and the other members of the G8 (France, US, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada & Russia) need to ensure that when they meet for the G8 Meeting in July and at the WTO Ministerial in December, the outcome is real action; dropping of the debt, more and better aid, and most crucial of all -- trade justice.
And to ensure they do that we need to do all we can to keep up the pressure on them! To conclude, here are 4 actions you can take:
1. Visit the Global Call to Action Against Poverty website and see what is happening in your country! http://www.whiteband.org
2. Wear a white band – the symbol of the campaign! http://www.whiteband.org/actnow
3. From 10-16 April, millions of people will be taking part in the Global Week of Action on Trade. See what is happening in your country: http://www.april2005.org and http://www.whiteband.org/updates/GWA
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