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 Press release - The Great Trade Robbery (Oxfam)

 Press release date: 10.04.2002

EMBARGOED TO 03.00 GMT (11.00am Hong Kong time)
11 April 2002

THE GREAT TRADE ROBBERY
Oxfam launches new campaign to Make Trade Fair

The EU and other rich countries are swindling the poor world out of US$100 billion a year by fixing global trade rules to protect their own markets said Oxfam today as it launched a global campaign to 'Make Trade Fair'.

Oxfam says this "global rip-off" undermines the impact of Western aid. "For every $1 donated in aid, $2 is being stolen from poor countries through unfair trade. The tragedy is that global trade could lift millions of people out of poverty. But trade rules are rigged denying poor people their best chance to escape poverty", said Oxfam Director Barbara Stocking. "The divide between rich and poor is at its widest ever. The rising anger of people being left behind by globalisation threatens us all. This cannot be allowed to continue."

In a new report "Rigged Rules and Double Standards" published today, the EU wins Oxfam's Double Standards Award for the greatest hypocrisy in trade rules. The report shows that 128 million people could be lifted out of poverty if Africa, Latin America, East Asia and South Asia each increased their share of world exports by just one percent. Oxfam says that the EU and other rich countries are fixing trade rules by:

  • Subsidising rich farmers by $1billion a day. Dumping of agricultural surplus on world markets is suppressing world prices and destroying poor farmers' livelihoods.
  • Using the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to prize open poor countries' markets at breakneck speed.
  • Keeping their own markets shut; goods from poor countries face tariffs four times higher than those from rich countries.
  • Failing to act to stabilise commodity prices that leave poor farmers destitute, while generating huge profits for big corporations.
  • Allowing big corporations to ride roughshod over internationally recognised workers' rights.

The campaign is launched as 144 countries of the World Trade Organisation start to work on a new agenda of trade negotiations that will determine how world trade will be regulated in the future. WTO negotiations risk exacerbating the global divide unless the rich world fundamentally changes the way it works with poor countries.

Oxfam is calling for a radical shake up of global trade rules and an end to rich world double standards. People can join the campaign at a dedicated website: www.maketradefair.com.

For interviews or for more information about the campaign launch call Julia Tilford or Zahra Akkerhuys at Oxfam's Media Unit on 01865 312498
jtilford@oxfam.org.uk or zakkerhuys@oxfam.org.uk more follows
Notes to editors

Broadcast quality video material, photographs and interviews available.

Where the campaign will be launched
The campaign will be launched in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, India, South Africa, Senegal, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, United States, Mexico and Brazil.

To find out more go to www.maketradefair.com

The Double Standards Index
The Double Standards Index highlights the gap between free-trade principle and protectionist practice. The Index compares the level of protectionist trade policies used by the richest and most powerful nations against exports from developing countries.

Oxfam is calling for a radical reform of the international trading system so that trade works for poor people.

  • Ending the use of conditions attached to IMF-World Bank programmes which force poor countries to open their markets regardless of the impact on poor people.
  • Improving market access for poor countries and ending the cycle of subsidised agricultural over-production and export dumping by rich countries, without demanding further concessions of developing countries.
  • Creating a new international commodities institution to raise prices to levels consistent with a reasonable standard of living for producers, and changing corporate practices so that companies pay fair prices.
  • Establishing new intellectual-property rules to ensure that poor countries are able to afford new technologies and basic medicines, and that farmers are able to save, exchange and sell seeds.
  • Prohibiting rules that force governments to liberalise or privatise basic services that are vital for poverty reduction.
  • Enhancing the quality of private-sector investment and employment standards.
  • Democratising the WTO to give poor countries a stronger voice.
  • Changing national policies on health, education and governance so that people can develop their capabilities, realise their potential and participate in markets on more equitable terms.

Oxfam GB is a member of the Trade Justice Movement.





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