TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume I Number 202 Monday, November 30, 1992 _________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary _________________________________________________________ US FARMERS JOIN FRENCH IN PROTESTING GATT A delegation of more than a dozen U.S. farmers has left for France to show support for French farmers who oppose the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). "We want them to understand we care about what is happening, that we will stand with them side by side," said Lee Light, a dairy farmer in Vermont. Light said the Uruguay Round of GATT would force farmers to sell their produce at lower prices and thus devastate France's very successful agriculture system. "If you start destroying the rural community and taking people off their land, you lose the basis of the economy," she added. The U.S. farmers are scheduled to join their French counterparts at a massive rally in Strasbourg Tuesday. Since the November 20 accord, French farmers have staged large, sometimes violent protests against the subsidies cuts. On Saturday, demonstrators in Paris burned an American flag and threw smoke bombs at a TWA office after writing anti-American slogans on the building. France's political parties last week unanimously denounced the farm agreement. Prime Minister Pierre Beregovoy promised Parliament that France would veto any GATT deal harmful to the country's interests. Conservative members were unhappy that Beregovoy had not vowed to veto the agriculture deal on its own, but government officials say the only way they can block it is by rejecting the entire GATT package. A new poll of French citizens reveals that 69 percent want a veto of the agriculture deal. However, the poll, published in the weekly news magazine LE POINT, showed a majority wants a successful conclusion to GATT talks. Meanwhile, other EC farmers continue to protest the proposed cuts in payments. A group of 200 Belgian farmers formed a blockade November 25 around the home of Belgium's agriculture minister to protest the accord. On November 27, Belgian and French farmers used 330 tractors to block roads to the city of Tournai, five miles from the French border in Belgium. Spanish farmers have also begun denouncing the agriculture deal. Last week, Spain's national farmers' union, ASAJA, demanded that the government veto the deal. "It just means more effort from EC farmers and producers and only benefits the United States" ASAJA Chairman Pedro Barato said. Spanish farmers are planning to join other Europeans at the demonstration in Strasbourg. Source: Melissa Tarkington, "Vt. Farmers Going to France to Join Trade Deal Protest," SUNDAY RUTLAND HERALD, November 29, 1992; "Angry Farmers Block Belgium's Border With France," REUTER, November 27, 1992; "Farmers Want Spanish GATT Veto, Call Protest," REUTER, November 27, 1992; "France-Trade-Poll," ASSOCIATED PRESS, November 28, 1992; Alan Riding, "French Politicians Sound Like Farmers (i.e., Angry)," NEW YORK TIMES, November 26, 1992, p. A3. _________________________________________________________ JAPAN CABINET SUPPORTS RICE BAN Japanese Cabinet members agreed not to alter Japan's ban on rice imports despite heavy pressure from GATT member-nations. But remarks from Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe indicated the government may be ready to lift the ban in order to conclude the world trade talks. "The question is whether we can win acceptance by vigorously stating that we will not allow a single grain of rice," Watanabe told reporters Friday. Watanabe said Japan would try to change the total tariffication proposal contained in the Dunkel draft of GATT. Since the European Community and the United States announced a settlement to a long-running dispute over farm payments, Japan has been under heavy pressure to lift its rice ban. Japanese government officials are apparently split over whether to end the ban. The Foreign Affairs Ministry and the International Trade and Industry Ministry are in favor of lifting the ban to ensure the prosperity of other industries. The Agriculture Ministry is firmly opposed to accepting rice imports. In a statement, the Consumers Union of Japan expressed strong opposition to the free trade pact. The group criticized GATT's insistence on "harmonizing" food standards and import regulations worldwide. The Union stated that producing food for export purposes increases environmental destruction and hampers any nation's efforts to become self-sufficient in food. "World population will reach ten billion in 2050," a statement said. "In order to save the people from starvation, it is essential to cultivate agriculture which contributes to protect the environment and people's culture. But, GATT aims the other way." Meanwhile, Japanese farmers sent a letter to EC Agriculture Commissioner Ray MacSharry to "remind (him) of the commonality of interests between the farmers of the European Community and farmers of Japan in the Uruguay Round, and our opposition to the opening of our rice market." The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (ZENCHU) said GATT should allow every country to enact measures to secure "supplies of basic foodstuffs indispensable to its people's alimentation." In the letter, Zenchu states that Japan must maintain its rice ban to ensure basic food self- sufficiency. GATT Director-General Arthur Dunkel proposed last year that tariffs replace all import bans. Japanese farmers and some government officials argue Japan should be exempt from the proposal because Japan is already the largest food importer in the world. Source: CONSUMERS UNION OF JAPAN STATEMENT, November 26, 1992; LETTER TO COMMISSIONER MACSHARRY from Japanese Farmers; "Foreign Minister Suggests Concession on Rice Ban," UPI, November 28, 1992; Andrew Pollack, "Japanese Officially Reaffirm Support of Rice Import Ban," NEW YORK TIMES, November 28, 1992, p. 15. _________________________________________________________ Other Trade News India's largest opposition parties angrily walked out of the Parliament Friday to protest the government's purchase of $400 million in wheat from the United States, Australia and Canada. The parties argued the purchase subsidizes foreign farmers at the expense of Indian farmers. They claimed pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had led the government to pay foreign farmers 30 percent more for wheat than it was willing to pay Indian farmers. India has borrowed more than $5 billion from the IMF alone in the past year. Its foreign debt is one of the highest in the world -- about $77 billion. Source: "Indian Opposition Attacks Government on Wheat Imports," UPI, November 27, 1992. _________________________________________________________ Resources: JUSTICE CORRUPTED, JUSTICE DENIED: UNMASKING THE UNTOUCHABLES OF THE MEXICAN FEDERAL JUDICIAL POLICE, a report by Alicia Ely-Yamin. Available free of charge from the Mexico Project, World Policy Institute, the New School for Social Research, 65 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10003. Tel: (212) 229-5808. _________________________________________________________ Other On-line Conferences: trade.strategy - a discussion of trade issues trade.library - a repository of trade information eai.news - a news summary of Latin American trade topics susag.news - a news summary of sustainable agriculture issues Produced by: Kai Mander The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite #303 Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546 USA Telephone:(612)379-5980 Fax:(612)379-5982 E-Mail:kmander@igc.org _________________________________________________________