Well, folks it’s the lead up to the WTO in September, the horses are at the gate and the starter has his whistle. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are looking the preliminary races that take place before the major ‘dash for cash’, the WTO meeting in September. The preliminaries are where the horses really showcase their form as they negotiate tricky obstacles like agricultural subsidies, medicines for poor countries and vital environmental initiatives like the Biosafety protocol. If the horses don’t manage to get through these areas with some sort of agreement, we may face a ‘gridlocked’ major race. Agriculture is at the heart of the current round of world trade talks and unless countries can agree on a plan for reducing domestic farm payments, export subsidies and agricultural tariffs, there is little hope for other areas of the talks. So it will be an interesting preliminary race ladies and gentlemen.
What an interesting line up we have here – horses from every country in the world. Naturally the eye is drawn to the two biggest horses I’ve ever seen, from the US and the EU. They tower above every other horse in the line up – look at the size! The speed at which they can pass trade resolutions must be breathtaking, the ‘profit uber alles’ blinkers are definitely on; their sheer bulk means that they must produce an enormous amount of horse shit. All the money here today is on these two stallions, which have been bought and paid for by corporate interests at home in their relative countries. Why compared to the sheer muscle of these super giants, the other horses, especially those from the South, are looking a wee bit like Shetland ponies. And what’s that, ah bless them, the WTO officials have decided to handicap all horses from developing nations with big rocks in their saddle bags. That’s exactly what we need; a level and democratic playing field.
Ok, they are going into their stalls. No one wants to stand near that big US horse, I wonder why. The moment is tense. The WTO official raises his whistle. AND THEY ARE AWAY!!!
Well it’s an exciting start…. The first challenge is agricultural subsidies! The US has been providing subsidies to its own farmers, while insisting the rest of the world isn’t allowed to do that. This policy creates an excess of US agricultural produce, which is ‘dumped’ on foreign markets. Look at that massive horse – its dumping excess right now and by golly that’s a sight. The tiny horses from the South seem to be covered in the stuff. My, they do seem to be drowning, just as their own farmers are drowning under the weight of US maize, sold so cheaply in their own country that they can’t compete. And, good grief, the US horse is part cyborg!!! The dumping contains genetically engineered organisms! I can see a small horse struggling now. He doesn’t seem to like this genetically modified stuff, and who could blame him? He’s pulling away from the US lead and is pointing to the Biosafety protocol. Some superb riding from this plucky Southern horse. Two thirds of the countries that have ratified the Biosafety Protocol are developing countries, and they are incresingly seeing through the empty promises from the US and the GE industry that GMOs will save the world from hunger.
The rider seems to be pointing out that for many countries of the South, agriculture is a crucial export. He is pointing to previous promises from the US and the EU to address world poverty at the WTO to and move towards sustainable trade practices. I can make out that the gutsy jockey is mentioning that this is supposed to be a ‘development round’ of talks.
Well, the US is coming in from the outside. What a sight! They are followed by Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, and Peru. The US is NOT happy. There are no signs of budging on dropping the US domestic subsidies for farmers and textile producers, and it is pushing to get developing nations to accept GMO’s. The European Union certainly holds the moral high ground defending the rights of a large majority of its citizens as opposed to the US administration, which is using the WTO to defend narrow industry interests at the expense of the environment and the people's right to choose what they eat.
It’s a spectacle to see the US horse try to force open new markets using the rules of the WTO. Watch the small horse get squeezed to the railing. The US is using its might to retaliate against the little horse, and it reasons that if the Shetland won’t give in on this, they will suspend vital talks in other areas such as access to medicines. I can see them threatening trade sanctions. You can see the sweat from here ladies and gentlemen, as this form of retaliation is allowed within the rules of the WTO. The pressure to fall behind the US is being felt strongly here, and you can hear the crowd going mad. And watch the WTO officials run onto the track to hold back the crowd with police.
It’s a media maelstrom at the edges of the track, as the camera’s capture scene after scene of crowds screaming with emotion. This would be the civil society. We’re seeing some fantastic form from the horses in response. Audiences back home are being told that the trackside spectators are rock throwing radicals – it’s a fantastic diversion of attention away from the real issues by demonizing the protestors on the ground. As the horses round the first bend no body knows who the bad guys are anymore. The jockeys seem lost in a cloud of dust, which is in fact a frenzy of negotiations and trade offs.
But what do we see charging in from the other direction? It’s the other massive horse, the EU. The EU isn’t keen on GE and has elected not to allow genetically modified foods to enter its boundaries. The US horse has rallied to this challenger; the US has lodged a bill at the WTO headquarters on the basis that the EU position is illegal because it stops US access to the European market.
Just like the WTO, this preliminary race favors the rich nations, so it’s a neck and neck situation as the two biggest horses are in contention. But wait – the EU has offered a compromise. The European Union last month agreed to two new directives on biotechnology foods, which it said would open the way to lifting a de facto moratorium on biotechnology food imports by member countries.
One directive required that foods and animal feed be labelled if they contain at least 0.9 percent of GM ingredients; and the other required that GM foods' origin can be traced. The US horse has come up to the EU – its neck and neck – and by golly, did you see that? The US horse has kicked the EU. The United States said the new labelling and tracking rules made no difference – it’s a turn down ladies and gentlemen. You can see a hoof mark on the EU’s ass. And the civil society is going nuts – they are creating a wave in the stadium, they aren’t pleased with any form of compromise on such a crucial issue.
Back to the action. As we’ve rounded the last corner, the experts are saying that if the countries can’t meet the challenge of the agricultural subsidies issue the big dash for cash, the WTO, will be gridlocked. This would be a major disappointment for the corporate industry interests back at home in the US. You can see the whites of the eyes of the horses and they are frothing at the mouth. Buts hold on ladies and gentlemen, people are rising out of their seats, the US has sent a proposal to the EU that they try to develop a common position on agricultural issues by mid-August that would be acceptable to the rest of the WTO membership. As they head down the home straight, we are told that talks will be ongoing. The stadium is going crazy – how will this preliminary stage end?
It’s been a fantastic race so far folks – we’ll be reporting live as the flurry of action builds in the final stretch, selling the future of the planet. The tiny horses from the South are lost somewhere down the track. Will the rumors from trackside that say the WTO is thinking of expanding their mandate into dog racing and all sorts of areas without bothering with democratic elections and transparent processes turn out to be true? Will new issues be brought to the track to be pulverized under the hooves of commercial interests of the developed Northern nations to the detriment of sustainable trade and environmental protection? Will the unfair practices of the WTO render UN resolutions such as the Biosafety protocol obsolete and pursue a mandate of trade above all else?
I don’t know but I’ll be right here with all the action as the final charge of this alarming race heads towards the deadline of the WTO meeting in Cancun, September 10 – 14.
6:35:06 PM 
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