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Welcome
to the new monthly newsletter for journalists about the impact of
subsidies, produced in partnership by IPS
- Inter Press Service and GSI
- Global Subsidies Initiative.
THIS
MONTH'S FOCUS:
WTO Farm Subsidy Talks
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Sixty years of trade talks - under the WTO
and its forerunner the GATT - have bequeathed
only minimal controls on agricultural subsidies.
The North and South are locked over farm spending
negotiations. This issue of the IPS-GSI Subsidy
E-newsletter brings to you the latest state-of-play
in the WTO discussions on agricultural subsidies. |
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ABOUT
THIS NEWSLETTER
Subsidies
—transfers of public money to private interests—
are so common that for the most part they
go unnoticed; they can also be arcane and
complex, posing tremendous challenges for
journalists. Yet, many experts believe that
subsidies are one of the most critical factors
in determining the sustainability of a government’s
economic, social and environmental policies.
Read more here about the organisations that
have partnered to bring you this newsletter,
and why.
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What will the Doha round deliver?
By Jonathan Hepburn
and Christophe
Bellmann
Rich and poor countries alike are locked
in battle over farm subsidy spending in negotiations at the
World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, where a 17 July draft
text by the chair of the agriculture negotiations has sparked
renewed controversy between delegates.
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More
information about subsidies
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The Global Subsidies Initiative cooperates
with an international network of researchers
working on subsidy related issues. Journalists
working on stories that involve subsidies,
and who are in search of expertise, information
and support are invited to contact Javed Ahmad,
the GSI's Director of Communications, at info@globalsubsidies.org.
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Bios -- Jonathan Hepburn and Christophe
Bellmann
Jonathan Hepburn is Agriculture
Programme Officer and Christophe
Bellman, Programmes Director at the Geneva-based International
Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).
SUBSIDIES
STORIES FROM IPS - RECENT ARTICLES
| PERVERSE
SUBSIDIES
AUGUST 2007 (IPS) - Since its inception in November 2001, the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation talks has been unable to take even one step towards the apparently shared goal of liberalising trade because of industrialised countries' subsidies of their own agricultural production, writes Norman Myers, who is completing, with Jennifer Kent, a book on institutional roadblocks.
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AFRICA,
LATIN AMERICA AND THE BIOFUEL REVOLUTION
JULY 2007 (IPS) - Biofuels should be at the centre of a planetary strategy to preserve the environment and spur sustainable development, writes Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Developing countries stand to benefit significantly from biofuels. Given their enormous potential for creating jobs and generating income, biofuels offer a real option of sustainable development.
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BRAZIL: Amazon Fruit Gatherers Face Biofuel Dilemma
By Mario Osava
IMPERATRIZ, Brazil - The babaçú, an abundant native palm tree in the eastern Amazon and in the north and northeast of Brazil, has great potential for the production of "biodiesel" and biomass fuel, but the women who make their living from gathering its fruit fear the loss of their traditional source of income.
AGRICULTURE-MALAYSIA: Big Top-Down Farm Revival Powered By Business
By Anil Netto
PENANG - The Malaysian government is unveiling an economic master-plan that it hopes will "revolutionise" farming and transform the economies of four northern states.
ENERGY: Biofuels Pushing Up Food Aid Prices
By Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON - A dramatic increase in the production of biofuels has led to rising food prices with serious implications for developing countries reliant on food aid to combat famine.
RELATED
WEB SITES
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