posted 4-11-2005

Actor Colin Firth to present Oxfam Make Trade Fair Petition to WTO Director General

Mr. Firth will have a private meeting with Dr. Supachai at 3pm on Monday 11 April at the WTO in Geneva, and then both men will do a photo call and speak to the press in the corridor outside the DG's office from 3.30pm.

Coin Firth will present to Dr. Supachai and Ambassador Amina Mohamed - as chairman of the WTO General Council - the Big Noise, Oxfam's global petition to make trade fair. The Big Noise represents the voices of people around the world who are calling on world leaders to change the rules of international trade so that they work for developing countries. It currently has 7 million signatures and momentum is expected to build in the run up to the Word Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial in Hong Kong in December 2005.

Jo Fox, Oxfam's Big Noise coordinator said: "There is a growing awareness around the world that the rules of world trade are rigged in favor of the richest countries. Trade could be a powerful force for poverty reduction but unless the rules are changed this will not happen. The longer decision makers refuse to make trade fair, the louder the Big Noise will become."

Colin Firth's visit to Geneva comes at the start of a week in which ten million people from 70 countries are protesting against unfair trade rules (April 11-17). The Global Week of Action sees Oxfam joining forces with campaigners, trade unions and international artists across the world in a show of solidarity with poor farmers. Events include an all-night vigil of the Trade Justice Movement in London's Westminster Abbey, a night of music concerts in Madrid, and an arts festival in Indonesia.

At the beginning of the week a series of photos of celebrities, including Colin Firth, being dumped on with different commodities, will be released to the international media. The photographs highlight the problem of agricultural export dumping. 

Oxfam will also publish a report on Monday highlighting the inequality of world trade, using rice as an example. The paper, which Mr. Firth will discuss with the WTO Director General, calls for developing countries to be given the power to decide their own trade policies in order to develop vital sectors.
 

Two-pronged trade attack will destroy poor farmers, warns Oxfam

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the new battleground where poor countries are being forced to reduce tariffs on imports. The moves could increase their vulnerability, destroy farming communities, threaten food security and plunge millions into deeper poverty, says the report, Kicking Down the Door (Download the report, pdf 574 kb).

Poor countries were promised that vital food crops would be exempt from the WTO cuts, but rich countries are now trying to water down this promise. The US, for example, has declared that it will accept only a “very limited number” of exemptions. The world rice trade shows the grave risk to poor farmers. 

Each year the US spends $1.3bn in subsidies to support a rice crop that costs $1.8bn to grow. These subsidies make possible the dumping of 4.7m tonnes of rice on world markets at 34% below the cost of production, hurting poor countries like Haiti, Ghana and Honduras. Developing countries should be allowed to use policies that allow them to develop fragile farming sectors, says the report. 

“This is an example of rigged rules and double standards at their baldest. Rich countries are demanding that poor countries pull down their barriers to trade, and at the same time they are continuing to subsidise massive overproduction and dumping. Their selfish motives couldn’t be clearer,” said Phil Bloomer, head of Oxfam International’s Make Trade Fair campaign. 

“US rice would not be competitive without massive state subsidies. It is scandalous that poor countries are forced to compete with the US. Worse still, that they are denied the opportunity to defend themselves from dumping.” 

If rich countries prevail at the WTO, India, China, Nicaragua and Egypt are among 13 developing countries that could be forced to cut their rice tariffs and become vulnerable to cheap imports. Meanwhile, the US rice industry would gain from increased access to poor country markets.

Profits for Riceland Foods of Arkansas, USA – the world’s biggest rice mill – rose by $123m from 2002 to 2003 thanks largely to a 50% increase in exports, much of them to Haiti, which was forced in 1995 to cut its rice tariff from 35% to just 3% under pressure from the IMF. As a result, rice imports increased by 150% in nine years and today three out of every four plates of rice eaten in Haiti come from the US. Local farmers’ livelihoods have been devastated and rice-growing areas now have among the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty.

Rice is not the only commodity threatened by the WTO proposals. Oxfam estimates that developing countries also risk tariff cuts on imports of poultry (18 countries), milk powder (14 countries), sugar (13 countries), soybeans (13 countries), maize (7 countries) and wheat (6 countries), with potentially devastating effects for all these sectors. 

Beyond the WTO, rich countries continue to use the World Bank, the IMF and regional trade agreements to bully developing countries to open their markets prematurely. To make matters worse, the rich world has slashed agricultural aid by more than two-thirds in the past 18 years.

“Trade could be a vital part of the plan to make poverty history in 2005 but only if poor countries are allowed to decide the policies that are right for their own development. Poor countries have been forced to liberalise trade faster and deeper than any industrial power in history. They are tired of this shock therapy and shouldn’t have to endure it,” said Bloomer. 

“Poor countries with fledgling rice sectors can’t compete against subsidising superpowers, like the US, or big exporting neighbors, or other countries that are able to export rice cheaply. They need the time and space to establish themselves,” he said.

“In the run up to the Hong Kong WTO ministerial it is vital that rich countries demonstrate the willingness to negotiate trade policies that genuinely contribute to poverty reduction rather than continuing to pursue their own narrow agendas of self-interest and corporate profit.”

Oxfam’s report includes the following recommendations: 

Any new WTO deal must allow developing countries to regulate imports of products which threaten to undermine their farmers’ livelihoods. 
Rich countries must stop negotiating bilateral trade deals to force open developing country markets. 
The IMF and the World Bank must stop forcing poor governments to cut their tariffs across the board. 
Developing country governments should ensure that their farm policies promote poverty reduction.

Contact 

For more information, please contact:
Amy Barry +44-(0)1865-312254, or +44-(0)7980664397, or abarry@oxfam.org.uk

Make Trade Fair Global Week of Action

Ten million people from 70 countries are protesting against unfair trade rules this week (April 11-17). The Global Week of Action will see Oxfam joining forces with campaigners, trade unions and international artists to demand that world leaders honour their promises to change the rigged rules of world trade. 

Events will be held in cities across the world. Highlights include an all-night vigil of the Trade Justice Movement in London’s Westminster Abbey, a night of music concerts in Madrid, and an arts festival in Indonesia.

The Global Week of Action is a show of solidarity with poor farmers to change a global trading system that sees:
- One billion people – most of them farmers and farm workers – living on less than NZ$2 a day
- Many poor and developing countries being denied the chance to capture their fair share of the benefits of global trade
- Rich countries forcing poor countries to open their markets and then dumping excess crops on them, destroying farming communities, threatening food security and plunging millions into deeper poverty
- Rich countries spending NZ$140 billion a year to protect their markets with tariffs, quotas and subsidies – twice as much as they provide in aid for developing countries.

Oxfam has brought together a number of leading musicians and actors including the Finn Brothers, Colin Firth, Antonio Banderas, Chris Martin, Michael Stipe, Thom Yorke and Jamelia to highlight the injustice of global trade rules and agricultural dumping on poor countries. Critically acclaimed photographer Greg Williams photographed the artists for a series of unique photographs to support Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign. These are now available for general release. 

As part of its contribution to the week of action, Oxfam is today releasing a new report “Kicking down the Door” which exposes how rich countries are forcing poor ones to open their markets and dumping surplus crops, and how the rice trade is a graphic example of this global scandal. 

The Global Week Of Action is one of a number of events leading up to the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July and the World Trade Organization’s ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December. Today Oxfam New Zealand starts its countdown to Hong Kong – 246 days to a crucial meeting on world trade.

For more information on the worldwide events planned during the Global Week of Action and Oxfam's Make Trade Fair Campaign visit: www.maketradefair.com
 
 

EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD – APRIL 11-17

Date Event
April 11 Oxfam publishes new report “Kicking down the door”, launched in New Zealand and across the world. Events include: Colin Firth handing in Oxfam’s Big Noise petition to WTO director general Supachai Panitchpakdi in Geneva; a press conference in Washington DC; an advertising campaign in Spain; stunts in Dublin and The Hague; festival and photo exhibition in Jakarta.

April 12 In The Hague, launching the Dutch “Roadshow” outside Parliament, inviting all political leaders to visit and sign-up to the Big Noise; in Strasbourg at the European Parliament, a fair trade exhibition; in Jakarta, Indonesia, a debate on the “rice trade, human rights and gender equality”; in Ghana, a procession of farmers and activists 

April 14 The first "Night Live Concerts Festival for Make Trade Fair" in Madrid, in 15 concert halls. Every month from now, a major city in Spain will host a multi-concert festival to support the Make Trade Fair campaign.
A New Orleans-style funeral procession in Brussels followed by a debate on EU trade policy, including Martin Khor of Third World Network, Alan Beattie of the Financial Times and Peter Mandelson's Senior Cabinet advisor, Roger Liddle. Also in the Netherlands, Ghanaian farming groups lobby parliament, and in Peru, publication of a book on trade-related intellectual property and the Andean-US FTA. 

April 15 An all-night vigil to “wake up to trade justice” in London. The event will kick off in Westminster Abbey with performances by Ronan Keating, Vanessa Redgrave and Thom Yorke. In Jakarta, an organic food cooking competition and schools’ competition to write letters to farmers; and in Manila a “grain march” to the Department of Trade and Industry. 

April 16 A demonstration will be held in Paris, along with groups setting up a farming village; in Kenya there will be public processions in major towns by farmers and farm workers, carrying crops affected by unfair trade rules, e.g. sugar, maize, coffee and tea; in Berlin there will be an “unfair football game”, among other events; in New Delhi a demonstration of farmers and farm workers; in Jakarta a “farmers’ mobilization” including music and arts festival; and in Dublin, vote for trade justice with ballot boxes across the city.

Across the week: April 11-17 

New Zealand: As part of Oxfam New Zealand’s “Countdown to Hong Kong”, a call for policy change sent to Ministers of Trade, Foreign Affairs and International Development; lobbying of government officials; letters sent to all political parties, and meetings with coffee roasters and campaigners around the country to promote fair trade.

United States: week-long speaking tour of farmers and campaigners from Mali, with events planned in 95 US cities, including hunger banquets in 38 of the 50 US states.

Canada and Quebec, poor country farmers speaking tour; in Montreal, public sign-ups to the Big Noise petition

Sydney: Fair Trade coffee tastings in Hyde Park; 

Lima: open air photo exhibition about unfair trade 

Zambia: a series of radio programmes and concerts and a presentation of the Big Noise petition to the president

Ecuador: a caravan around the country giving information about the impacts of the FTA

India: a series of public meetings and stunts during local harvest festivals.
 

CELEBRITY “DUMPING” PHOTOGRAPHS – APRIL 9

The Photographer
Award winning photographer Greg Williams (www.gregfoto.com) is donating his time, energy and contacts to support Make Trade Fair. 

The Celebrities

Artiste Commodity Profession Quote Available Photographer Accreditation
Alanis Morrisette Wheat Singer Yes Greg Williams
Angelique Kidjo Feathers Singer Yes Nick Stevens
Antonio Banderas Maize Actor No Greg Williams
Apolline Traore Cotton Wool Director No Stephane Tourné 
Bobby Friction Orange Juice DJ Yes Greg Williams
Bono Sugar Musician No Greg Williams
Chris Martin Rice Musician Yes Greg Williams
Colin Firth Coffee Actor No Greg Williams
Damon Albarn Tomatoes Musician Yes Greg Williams
Didier Awadi Cotton Wool Musician Yes Stephane Tourné 
Finn Brothers Coffee Beans Musicians Yes Nick Stevens
Gael Garcia Bernal Cotton Wool Actor Simon Clark
Hipollyte Ouagrawa Cotton Wool Actor Yes Stephane Tourné 
Idrissa Ouedraguo Cotton Wool Director No Stephane Tourné 
Jamelia Feathers Singer Yes Greg Williams
Michael Stipe Milk Singer Yes Greg Williams
Michelle Collins Sugar Actress Greg Williams
Minnie Driver Cotton Actress No Greg Williams
Nitin Sawhney Peanuts Musician Yes Greg Williams
Susanna Bacca Cotton Wool Musician Yes Hisham Aba Husayn
Tamara Rojo Feathers Ballerina Yes Greg Williams
Thom Yorke Chocolate Sauce Musician Yes Greg Williams
Yeleen Cotton Wool Musician No Stephane Tourné 
Youssou N'Dour Cotton Wool Musician Yes Nick Stevens

How to get the photos?

Photographs are accessible at: http://www.maketradefair.com/work/celebs/ . All photographs must be credited to the photographer listed next to each artist and/or the creative director Greg Williams. Photographs must be used in a sequence; if a single standalone image is required please use only the image that has been labeled as such. The pictures must always be used in conjunction with the Make Trade Fair campaign only and their usage is limited up until January 2006. Any use of the pictures to illustrate non-Make Trade Fair stories or personality profiles is expressly prohibited and legal action will be taken in such an event.