PEOPLE'S SUMMIT:
AGRICULTURE FORUM
APRIL 19, 2001
STATEMENT FROM AGRICULTURE FORUM
QUEBEC CITY, Que.: Farm, peasant, farm worker, and indigenous people's organizations released the following statement in Quebec City today:
"Any trade agreement must guarantee the food sovereignty and security of the peoples, because food is a basic and fundamental human right. Food must be safe, accessible, and provide a fair and adequate return to primary producers. Farming, livestock production, fishing, and agro-forestry must be practiced in concert with public policies which protect and respect the rights of the men and women of the land, including farmers, farm workers, and indigenous people. Such policies must also protect and respect their use of natural resources such as air, water, soil, biodiversity, knowledge of genetic resources, the right to land, and forms of collective community land rights.
The agricultural policies put into practice by the governments of the Western Hemisphere must encourage and ensure the existence of indigenous people, family farmers, and other people who labour on the land. These policies must limit the export and import of significant quantities of food which destroy our local economies and put at risk our health and our environment. Consequently, governments should promote organic agriculture and prohibit the use of transgenic food products. In addition, given the profound inequalities among our people, we should seek equitable development rather than promoting 'free trade' which is unequal by nature. The governments of the Western Hemisphere must recognize that the current policies of the World Trade Organization and regional trade agreements, such as NAFTA, have served to concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few transnational corporations and have deepened the poverty and dependence of our peoples.
We will not tolerate injustice and destruction caused by such policies. Our struggle has a long history, and we are determined."
This statement was formulated over the past two days at the Agricultural Forum and has been submitted to form part of the People's Summit Declaration. Citizens from the hemisphere are holding the Agricultural Forum and the People's Summit to pressure governments to act in the public interest when creating economic and trade policies.
The farm leaders stated that they believe that the proposed FTAA will repeat and intensify the errors contained in past trade agreements.
Representing farmers were:
Many of the Ag. Forum participants are members of the Via Campesina. The Via Campesina is an international organization of peasants, farmers, farm workers, and indigenous peoples from around the world. It represents approximately 30 million people in over 60 countries.
On April 21, farm leaders will join thousands of others to protest the destructive effects of globalization, current trade agreements, and the proposed FTAA.
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