Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe: Zwischen GVO und Exportprioritäten

hives

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Das Prinzip ist nicht zuletzt aus dem Irak bekannt: vermeintliche Hilfe offenbart sich als Einfallstor für diverse Konzerne und Produkte. Insbesondere im Kontext der kommerziellen "Grünen Gentechnik" kann die Nahrungsproduktion eines Landes entscheidend beeinflusst und verändert, abhängig sowie zahlungspflichtig gemacht werden.

Dieser Thread soll in erster Linie der Sammlung themenbezogener Informationen und Artikel dienen. Als aktueller Anlass dient der jüngste WTO- Gipfel. Hier soll es nun um die getätigten Vorwürfe sowie thematisch anschließende Fragen gehen, doch auch die Umstände des jüngsten Schlagabtausches können natürlich gerne besprochen bzw. -schrieben werden.


Mandelson rounds on 'fake' US food aid
By Philip Thornton
Published: 14 December 2005

The opening day of the high-profile trade summit in Hong Kong got off to a disastrous start yesterday. A bitter war of words broke out between Europe, the US and the United Nations, and demonstrators wrought havoc inside and outside the convention centre.

Peter Mandelson, the EU's trade chief, triggered a row when he branded the US food aid programme, which delivers American produce to needy countries, as "fake" aid designed to help US farmers rather than the world's poor.

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article333069.ece

Agricultural exporting countries have called for new disciplines on food aid as part of the Doha Round negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in light of evidence that the USA sometimes uses food aid to dump agricultural surpluses and to attempt to create new markets for its exports. Indeed, food aid has the potential both to reduce domestic production of food, damaging the livelihoods of poor farmers, and to displace exports from other countries into the recipient country.

This paper shows that current practices, especially those of the USA, create substantial adverse side-effects in trade that damage the livelihoods of poor farmers and stymie their economic opportunities to develop.

• Damage to local production in recipient countries: in 2002/2003 food aid donors over-reacted to a projected 600,000 metric tonne food deficit in Malawi, causing a severe decline in cereal prices and hurting local producers.

• Displacement of exports: in 2000, Guyanese rice exports to Jamaica were displaced by US food aid which suddenly doubled following a bumper crop in the USA. ·

• Food aid is used to dispose of surpluses: in-kind food aid peaked in 1999-2000 when there were large surpluses and low prices for cereals. This depressed prices for poor farmers around the world.

• Food aid is sometimes used to capture new markets: US legislation for Title I food aid programs states that priority is given to export of US agricultural commodities to those developing countries which have demonstrated the potential to become commercial markets. This is a major, and unfair, subsidy to exporters of the donor country.

• In-kind food aid is used instead of cash: 90 per cent of all food aid is provided in commodities rather than cash. This can destroy or damage local markets that poor farmers depend on.

• Monetization of in-kind food aid: increasing volumes of food aid provided for development projects is sold straight onto local markets to generate cash. This displaces local farmers’ produce and slashes their income by reducing prices.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/trade/bp71_foodaid.htm


Download des kompletten Berichts



EU COMMISSIONER SLAMS "IMMORAL" US FOOD AID CLAIMS/DENIS MURPHY ON THE VALUE OF GM CROPS

[...]

The EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has denied US accusations that several European countries were making economic aid to developing countries contingent on whether they prohibit biotech crops, calling the accusations "immoral".

Earlier this month, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick launched a scathing attack on the EU for what he called its "luddite" and "immoral" moratorium on genetically modified crops. He also threatened to file a complaint with the WTO against the EU, as well as alleging links between the use of biotech crops and the EU's granting of aid.

Lamy denied that there was any such link: "The fact that (Zoellick) made this link is very simply immoral," he was quoted by Dow Jones International News as saying. "Using the starvation in some countries to accuse the EU of being luddite is purely and simply unacceptable."

Lamy then launched a counter attack, accusing the US of using its foreign aid programme as a means to "dispose of its genetically modified crop surpluses."

"The simple solution is for the US to behave as a real aid donor," he said.

The commissioner said that by contrast the EU buys its food aid from the region it is trying to help, and leaves the decision on whether that will include or exclude biotech crops to the recipient country.


"If a country wants genetically modified organisms, it can buy genetically modified organisms," Lamy said.

The EU has come under fire from the US over its biotech policy after Zambia refused to accept the US's GM food aid. The famished African country refused to accept aid that may have included genetically modified crops due to fears the crops may contaminate its non-GM crops and thereby jeopardise exports to areas such as the EU.
http://ngin.tripod.com/220103e.htm



Noch ein paar interne Links am Rande der Thematik:

Landwirtschaft im Irak: Multis sichern Interessen

Neue Erkenntnisse von der Gentechnikfront

Biopolitik- Blog


Das Unterforum "Verschwörungen" finde ich für die Thematik nicht unpassend, doch der Thread kann meinetwegen auch gerne verschoben werden.

mfg
 

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