I've just returned from an incredible, energizing meeting of livestock leaders from Mexico, Canada and the United States. The meeting was co-sponsored by IATP, the National Farmers Union in Canada, the Asociacion National de Empresas Comercializadores de Producores del Campo (ANEC), Food and Water Watch (FWW) and hosted by the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) in Billings, Montana from February 12-13.
We converged around the immediate need to challenge corporate-led livestock markets in order to prioritize producers and healthy food systems in North America. The facts are that since NAFTA, a few corporations now control and own the livestock industry. Companies like Cargill, based out of Minneapolis, Archer Daniels Midland, Smithfield and Tyson have been major beneficiares of NAFTA. And small producers in all three countries have lost their domestic and regional markets, while overall export dumping has increased.
We heard reports from livestock producers In Canada and the U.S., where exports have doubled since 1989, but cattle ranchers’ incomes dropped dramatically during that period. Four corporate packers own the large majority of the U.S. cattle industry. Cheap cuts of U.S. meat are being dumped into Mexico and Mexican cattle and pork producers ultimately lack access to U.S. markets. Food safety inspections are not working for producers or consumers. And producers have been pitted against one another, while rural communities in all three countries have been hurt.
You can read a press release and statements from key participants at our NAFTA Watch web site.
I also want to share some of the concrete proposals from the meeting that are being put forth by livestock producers from all three countries in response to President Obama’s promise to support the rural sector, to regulate corporations, and to renegotiate NAFTA:
- A tri-national system to implement captive supply reform to force packers who own cattle to sell in an open, transparent market and without price manipulation.
- Tri-national regulation to analyze mergers so that markets, prices and contracts are developed in a way that is transparent and provides equal access.
- Tri-national rules and a political commitment to prohibit dumping and to allow for special safeguard measures to block import surges.
- The removal of NAFTA’s Chapter 11, which allows investors to sue governments for lost profits.
- Tri-national rules to allow for national standard-setting such as labeling and other food safety regulation. COOL II – Company of Origin Labeling was also proposed.
It is this kind of forward looking vision for food and agriculture that is so needed at this time. We are all ready for change.
