Which Road to Qatar: Food First or Export First?

• Author: Shiva, Dr. Vandana

As we approach Qatar, there is consensus that actually existing globalization is unfair, unjust, and at the root of the creation of new poverty and deepening inequality. There is, however, difference of opinion about where we go from here.

The establishment response from the WTO the World Bank, the Governments of the North and South and NGOs dependent on Government financing is that the real problem is that globalization was incomplete access to markets of the South was achieved through one sided trade liberalization, but markets of the North continue to be closed to exports from the South, especially exports of agriculture and textiles. This unidirectional market opening is clearly unfair and unjust. The agenda for Qatar is then justified as further negotiations to open up northern markets and give market access to southern countries. The new Round has, therefore, been called a "Development Round," a round to benefit the Third World through market access especially in agriculture.

There are, however, a number of problems with using the Third World as an excuse for a New Round.

Unfair trade practices

The asymmetrics, imbalances and unfair rules in the current WTO agreements can be corrected without a new round.

The average tariff in Organization for Economic and Cooperative Development (OECD) countries in 1995 were 214% for wheat, 97% for barley, 154% for maize. Their tariff peaks reach 350% and above in extreme cases for some products of interest to developing countries. The most important areas with highest tariff rates include the major agricultural staples-cereals, meat, sugar, milk, butter and cheese as well as tobacco products and cotton.

Within the current review and reform process there are two paradigms emerging--the paradigm of "Expand or Sink" vs the paradigm of "Shrink or Sink."

The "Expand or Sink" paradigm is based on two basic assumptions.

The first is that globalization in itself is good; the only problem is that it did not go far enough. Further globalization for market access is thus the solution.

The second is that export-dominated agriculture can remove poverty and reduce inequality in the Third World.

The "expand or sink" globalization school is in effect an "export first" school for agriculture based on the tenets:

1. Exports come first.

2. Exporting is a right and giving market access is an obligation, no matter what the environmental and social costs.

The "Shrink or Sink" school anti-globalization movement, on the other hand, views the way forward as based on a turnaround and shrinkage of the globalization agenda. "No new Round--Turnaround" and "WTO--sink or shrink" were the civil society calls for the Seattle and Qatar Ministerials respectively.

In agriculture, in particular, the turnaround agenda requires the reversal of industrialization and trade liberalization policies in agriculture in the North and the South and putting...