Radio Hong Kong Goes Live

In preparation for the December World Trade Organization ministerial in Hong Kong, IATP has launched Radio Hong Kong. Three broadcasts are now available for download in MP3 format. Stories have covered developments in the agriculture negotiations, the fair trade movement, protests around the world and the history of the WTO.

The online station features podcasts of breaking news, features and analysis on the upcoming ministerial. During the ministerial, Radio Hong Kong will broadcast news and analysis on the negotiations, protests and Fair Trade Fair.

• Visit Radio Hong Kong

Stakes High in GM Crops Dispute at WTO

In January, the World Trade Organization is scheduled to rule on a highly anticipated case that will directly impact how countries around the world regulate genetically modified (GM) crops and food. IATP has outlined the key issues in a new backgrounder on the trade dispute between the primary plaintiff, the U.S. (joined by Canada and Argentina), and the European Communities.

"This case is about whether WTO members may use precaution when scientific uncertainties preclude regulators from assessing the risks not only of GM crops but also other new technologies," said Steve Suppan, IATP's Director of Research and author of the backgrounder. "U.S. regulators allow biotech firms to determine when biotech product risks merit regulatory concern. Now, the U.S. wants to export its deregulatory model to other WTO members through this decision."

• Read the backgrounder at iatp.org

Groups Criticize U.S. WTO Position

Family farm, church and fair trade organizations sent a letter in October to members of Congress calling on them to oppose a Bush administration proposal that would reclassify a type of U.S. farm subsidy under WTO trade rules. The letter charged that the proposal supports the existing farm policy of low prices for U.S. farmers and export dumping onto world markets.

The WTO held a general council meeting on Oct. 18-20 in Geneva, the last that will take place before the Hong Kong ministerial in December. Negotiations are currently taking place on a framework agreement reached last year that includes a U.S. proposal to alter the WTO Agreement on Agriculture to allow U.S. counter-cyclical payments into what is called the Blue Box. The Blue Box was originally established to support programs that limit production. Countercyclical payments have nothing to do with limiting production. Last year, a WTO dispute panel ruled that countercyclical payments must be classified in the aggregate measure of support (Amber Box) payments, which face strict limits.

• Read the letter on the WTO Blue Box at Trade Observatory

Understanding Dumping

IATP has produced a short primer for those interested in learning more about how agricultural dumping occurs. The primer explains how U.S.-based agribusiness firms are able to dump farm crops onto the international market and still make considerable profits. At the same time, farmers in the U.S. and around the world lose.

• Read the online version at Trade Observatory

Healthier Food Uses of Plastics

Plastics are widely used to store and package foods and beverages. Plastic is convenient, lightweight, unbreakable and relatively inexpensive. But there are both environmental and health risks from the widespread use of plastics. The production of plastic creates and air and water pollution and exposes workers and nearby communities to toxic chemicals. The use of plastics in cooking and food storage can carry health risks, especially when hormone-disrupting chemicals from some plastics leach into foods and beverages.

To provide consumers with guidelines on the safe use of plastics to store and package food, IATP has produced the Smart Plastics Guide: Healthier Food Uses of Plastics for Parents and Children. The guide is part of a series of consumer guides IATP has produced on food, including the Smart Fish Guide, Smart Meat and Dairy Guide and the Smart Produce Guide.

• Read the Smart Guides series at IATP.org

Minnesota Store-bought Fish Tests Unsafe for Mercury

A swordfish purchased in a Minnesota grocery store contained mercury levels more than 60 percent above what the Food and Drug Administration considers safe, according to a 22-state mercury-testing project. The testing project, led by Oceana and the Mercury Policy Project, suggests a random shopper has a 50-50 chance of buying swordfish in a grocery store with mercury levels considered unsafe by the FDA.

"Mercury-laden swordfish directly threaten pregnant women, their fetuses and others," said Kathleen Schuler, IATP staff scientist who helped to purchase the swordfish for the project. "Swordfish with mercury levels as high as we found should be pulled from the market. It shouldn't be up to shoppers to do this kind of safety testing. The FDA needs to take responsibility for public health, dramatically increase testing and pull fish with dangerous mercury levels off the market."

• Read more at Food and Health's Web site

Mad Cow Border Battle Continues

Upon discovery of mad cow disease in Canada two years ago, the U.S. government closed the Canadian border. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture tried to reopen the border after it determined that Canada had put safeguards into place to ensure safety. The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF) challenged the USDA decision in court.

In October, the Center for Food Safety, IATP, Community Nutrition Institute, Consumer Federation of America and Public Citizen filed an amicus brief with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of R-CALF's legal challenge. The groups argued that regulations on the removal of high-risk tissues from slaughtered animals and cattle feed were inadequate to ensure safety. Both issues are directly related to the spread of mad cow disease.

• Read the full brief at Ag Observatory

Forestry Workshop Takes on Invasive Species

Non-native invasive species can have ecological implications for forest communities, disrupt tree regeneration and create problems during and after timber harvests. At a workshop at the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids, Minn., loggers, foresters, and resource managers learned how to identify, monitor and control the most troublesome invaders of Minnesota's woodlands.

The workshop was sponsored by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the Minnesota Logger Education Program and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Forest Stewardship Program. It focused on the most common woodland invasive species: common and glossy buckthorn, exotic honeysuckles and garlic mustard. Plant pests that are locally abundant, such as Japanese barberry and Japanese knotweed, were also discussed, as well as invasive species that prefer sun but can spread along trails and roads, such as spotted knapweed and wild parsnip.

• Read more at IATP's Community Forest Resource Center

Eco-Fair Trade Dialogue Looks to Sustainable Fair Trade

Some of the world's top agriculture trade experts have been brought together to make recommendations for changes in multilateral trade rules on agriculture that would support a more sustainable and fairer trade system. IATP Trade Program Director Sophia Murphy is part of the 11-member expert panel created by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Misereor, a German Catholic development agency.

Called the Eco-Fair Trade Dialogue, the panel has met three times, and is developing a series of nine policy papers to deepen the group's analysis of the issues, challenges and possible proposals to move the agenda forward. Sophia's paper will focus on the challenge posed by corporate concentration in global agricultural markets. Other papers will look at supply management, asymmetries of power in trade and agriculture relations, the right of countries to govern their food imports, the role of exports in development, the role of small farmers in food production and rural development, and the need for a transformation of industrial agriculture. Over 2006 and 2007, the panel will synthesize the policy proposals and start a process of outreach to allied constituencies, policymakers and the wider public.

• Read more at globALTERNATIVE.org from the Heinrich Böll Foundation

U.S. NGOs Criticize Administration at World Summit

In September, IATP and over 35 other U.S. nongovernmental organizations sent a letter to President Bush criticizing the U.S. negotiating strategy leading up to the United Nation's World Summit in New York. The NGOs warned that by not committing to concrete development and disarmament goals, the U.S. government was taking a confrontational stance that "hurts our ability to cooperate with other nations, undermines our efforts to address global problems and discourages other countries from meeting their commitments."

Some 170 heads of state attended the summit, the single largest gathering of world leaders in history. The World Summit was intended to evaluate progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, strengthen the United Nations and commit countries to peace-building measures. IATP's Patricia Jurewicz helped organize the NGO letter and release Social Watch's 2005 report, Roars and Whispers, Gender and Poverty: Promises vs. Action. Patricia co-authored the U.S. chapter of the report.

• Read the NGOs' letter at Trade and Global Governance's Web site
• Visit Social Watch

IATP Looking for New Trade Program Director

IATP currently has an opening for a Program Director of the Trade and Global Governance Program. The Trade and Global Governance Director is responsible for overseeing the program's current priorities including ongoing trade negotiations, particularly the World Trade Organization agriculture talks; related policies of the United Nations, World Bank and other international institutions; democratic reform of the multilateral system; implementation of key UN treaties and the Millennium Development Goals; U.S. trade policy and its impact on developing countries; national and multilateral policy on the use of genetic engineering and patents in agriculture; and multilateral tools to manage water resources. Broad experience and knowledge across issue areas is preferred.

• Get the full job description and application instructions at IATP's job board

Co-op Coffees Meets in Guatemala

Members of Cooperative Coffees-a co-op of roasters of which IATP's Peace Coffee is a founding member-gathered in Xela, Guatemala, Sept. 2-9, with more than a dozen producer partners from Latin America to listen, learn and plan for the future. The 40 roasters and coffee producers agreed unanimously to address specific issues central to fair trade, including improving price, communication, quality and bringing a voice of producers to Cooperative Coffees.

• Read more at Peace Coffee

IATP News is an occasional publication reporting on recent events and activities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). It is sent to board members, supporters, partners and friends. If you want to learn more about any particular item or if you do not want to receive this newsletter, send email to Communications Coordinator Ben Lilliston at blilliston@iatp.org or call: 612-870-3416. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
Mark Ritchie, President
2105 First Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA
Tel. 1 (612) 870-0453 Fax. 1 (612) 870-4846
Email: iatp@iatp.org Web: iatp.org