FAO head urges rich nations to open their markets

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) director-general Jacques Diouf urged rich members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to be more cooperative in the effort to correct existing trade distortions that have kept poor nations at a gross disadvantage.

Diouf who was in Manila last week said the world’s richest economies like the US and the European Union should be more flexible and open up trade to developing countries.

"The situation, especially in agricultural trade is not acceptable, we’re in a situation where developing countries with marginal population are giving their farming sector huge subsidies. This certainly is not right and ought to be corrected," Diouf said.

He said rich countries have an average collective subsidy of about $318 billion for their faming sector. On the other hand, impoverished developing nations have gotten a miniscule $8 billion in official development assistance, he added.

Diouf said the FAO has been helping developing countries firm up their negotiating stance with the developed countries by funding the training of more than 800 agriculture trade negotiators. The training covered studying the implications of subsidies, differential and preferential treatments to favored nations and technical and non-technical barriers to trade.

"The trainings were meant to beef up their knowledge about world trade issues, and this resulted to their resistance in the Doha and Cancun talks," Diouf said.

While urging the developed nations to open up their markets, Diouf said global liberalization should provide opportunities for economies on opposite sides of the pole.

"Opening up markets should also mean that it will not create problems for other farmers in other parts of the world," Diouf said.

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. who spoke at the 32nd FAO Council Conference in December last year, said the FAO should flex its muscles and use its moral suasion to help developing countries correct trade distortions perpetuated by richer members of the WTO.

Lorenzo also urged FAO to lend its expertise to poor or developing countries that are technically ill-equipped to negotiate for better trade terms with their richer counterparts.

The FAO Council has powers delegated to it by the FAO Conference. Its functions include dealing with food and agriculture situations and related matters, concerns and prospective activities of the FAO, including the program of work and budget, administrative matters, financial management of organization and constitutional questions.

"The FAO Council has no tangible influence on the WTO, but it has the moral suasion which it can use to help poor countries to become technologically-prepared in ongoing negotiations," said Lorenzo.

Lorenzo pointed out that as developing countries’ frustrations are mounting, the FAO should try to exercise its authority to convince rich nations to accede to reasonable demands being pushed by poorer countries.

He said trade liberalization mocks and insults the mission of the FAO which is to ensure among others, parity among nations in food and agriculture security, with liberalization just focusing on tariff elimination while conveniently ignoring pressing issues such as greater market access.