November 15, 2006 - Vatican Says "Free Trade" Agenda of U.S. Hurts Poor Countries

On October 17, 2006, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's representative to the UN, emphasized that the "free trade" agenda that the U.S. and other rich countries are promoting is often detrimental to poor countries.

In his statement to the meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on international trade and development, the Archbishop warned that a lack of commitment from rich countries to just trade policies could lead to "uncontrolled movements of populations, irreparable environmental damage, even the spread of terrorism and armed conflict."

Current trade policy, he said, is inadequate because it fails to recognize that "(t)he current world situation presents inequalities which demand urgent reflection," Archbishop Migliore stated. In the face of such inequalities, the type of trade policy which rich countries have been promoting—policy which only focuses on market forces—is dangerous, the Archbishop said. In particular, "the interests of some sectors of the developed countries have prevailed over the common good," he said. He also pointed in particular to $280 billion in harmful "rich countries' support" through agricultural subsidies for their own farmers, which is extremely detrimental to poor farmers in developing countries because of the "the dumping of agricultural surpluses." Finally, rich country demands that poor countries open their markets quickly can be detrimental to poor countries, Migliore said.

This contrasts with what trade should really be about: "a priority for the general and sustainable growth of the economies of many developing countries," Archbishop Migliore said. Instead of demanding that the developing countries quickly open their markets, rich countries must accept that "the promotion of development must inevitably involve for a time the special consideration of poorer countries." This means that rich countries should allow poor countries "the ways and the times to open their markets to foreign competition, to the means necessary for harmoniously developing their industrial and agricultural productions, and to the adequate protection of the weakest economic sectors, found for example in small family agriculture."

As a result of the current bad policies, "The effects of trade relations have serious consequences for some of the most vulnerable people in the world and ultimately for their dignity," the Archbishop said. Unjust policies are one reason why there is "little hope of achieving" the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the Archbishop. The MDGs are a set of eight poverty-reduction goals that were set by the countries of the world in 2000 to reduce poverty, child and maternal mortality, debt, and HIV/AIDS by the year 2015. The goals also aim to increase access to water and education, and to create more opportunities for women and girls.

"The achievement of greater justice through fair trade continues to be a major concern of the Holy See," Archbishop Migliore said, referring to a quote from Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum Progressio that "freedom of trade is fair only if it is subject to the demands of social justice." In the perspective of the Vatican, international fair trade practices are essential to building global "security and development of all peoples, especially the poor," he said. "This is a moral imperative that cannot be delayed," Archbishop Migliore stated.

The U.S. is expected to soon vote on free trade agreements (FTAs) with Peru and Colombia, while negotiations on an FTA with South Korea will soon be completed. The U.S. is also negotiating FTAs with countries such as Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Panama.

Source: "Fair, just trade not free trade int'l moral imperative to aid most poor, Vatican tells U.N.," Catholic Online, 10/19/2006

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