Press reports

Paris, 26th July 2006

In the aftermath of Doha, momagri is preparing for the future

The Doha round has been suspended and, far from being a handicap for the development of poor countries, this is an opportunity that must be seized in order to build a system of world governance free from technical manipulations and international gridlock.

Indeed, the game has been rigged for several years now because of the internal subsidies that the Americans distribute to their farmers and that exert continuous pressure on world prices.

Moreover, the World Bank model, the imperfections and dangers of which have been clearly demonstrated, has continued to produce erroneous results in an effort to prove that blind liberalization of agriculture would promote the development of the poorest countries.

We hope that we can finally break with this hypocritical cycle in order to build a World Organization for Agriculture that, by regulating markets, will provide the poorest countries with real opportunities for development while reinforcing the food sovereignty of States and regions of the world.

WOAgri, for its part, has moved forward: the international agricultural model (NAR model) that it has built will take into account the specific and strategic character of agriculture and the major stakes that are linked with it such as environmental conservation, the war on poverty and public health.

The innovative and new criteria that have been the basis of its construction and the first principles of world agricultural governance will be presented at an international conference that WOAgri is organizing at the French Senate on October 19th 2006 on the theme of “Strategies for a world agriculture in deadlock: how to reconcile liberalization and development?”

It is indeed urgent to take advantage of this period of inactivity to propose other solutions that will enable us to reach an international agreement in which agriculture is not just a simple variable in the negotiations.

Press Contact: Dominique Lasserre
+33 (0)1 43 06 42 70
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World Organization for Agriculture
5, rue Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois - 75001 Paris
www.woagri.org