The poor should not cheer Cancun

By Adriano Campolina Soares
Food Rights Campaigner, ActionAid, Brazil

Protestors partied in Cancun last night celebrating the collapse of the WTO trade talks - but it's not all good news for poor countries.

It's a crying shame rich countries missed a chance to put the needs of the world's poorest at the heart of global trade.

As the negotiators pack their bags, we encourage them to head back to the WTO's head quarters in Geneva to thrash out a proper deal that puts the needs of the poor first.

At the end of the day, the blame for the collapse of the talks in Cancun lies squarely with the EU and US.

Call for reform

No deal is certainly better than a bad deal for poor countries in Cancun.

Poor people in poor countries urgently need global trade rules to be reformed - not a deal that would make bad rules even worse.

The traditional superpowers of global trade - the EU and US - put virtually nothing on the table in terms of slashing their farm subsidies or pulling back from expanding the WTO with new rules on foreign investment.

The EU and US maintained an aggressive stance and continued to bully the smaller nations in the corridors of power.

ActionAid was alarmed last week when we heard that the US tried to tempt three Latin American countries with special trade concessions.

Sticking together

The emergence of new coalitions of developing countries has changed the balance of power within the WTO. The 'G21' - which includes Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Indonesia - helped to change the dynamics at Cancun.

The G21 represents 63% of poor farmers worldwide and they were determined to stick together and not be pushed around by the superpowers during the negotiations.

My country, Brazil, played an important role in bringing together developing countries. It was significant that China played a key role in this group, and African nations were active in forming these new coalitions also.

However, I'm concerned there's now a real danger that having failed to impose their will on poor countries at the WTO, rich countries will push for trade deals on an individual or regional basis.

Poor fare worst

As we've seen with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - between Mexico, US and Canada - developing countries rarely fare well in these kinds of unbalanced agreements.

The corporations and elite usually skim off the lion's share of any profits, while the poorest communities are left with practically nothing.

The big multilateral organisations represent the best hope that we have for achieving fairer rules for the poorest of the poor.

Developing countries must remain united in their opposition at the WTO if the dominance of rich countries is truly to be challenged. I hope the new developing country coalitions stand firm over the coming months.

The EU and US must learn from their mistakes and live up to the rhetoric about these talks being a 'Development Round'. They must keep their promises and put fighting poverty at the heart of global trade.

Brazilian Adriano Campolina Soares is head of ActionAid's International Food Rights Campaign.