Aid groups urge EU, US to open markets to Africa
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NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- Aid agencies urged the European Union and United States on Monday to open their markets to African farmers at trade talks in Kenya this week, saying it was the only way to haul millions on the continent from poverty.
African trade ministers and EU and U.S. trade chiefs meet in the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa on Wednesday to try and find common ground over disputes between rich and poor countries that led to the collapse of global trade talks last year.
The Kenyan hosts said the talks are to improve relations rather than hammer out a deal, but campaigners are keen to see rich countries make the first move to lift trade barriers.
"The meeting has the potential to jumpstart the failed talks if the EU and U.S. place all their cards on the table, avoid making overbearing demands on African countries," said Irungu Houghton, pan-Africa policy adviser with British charity Oxfam.
"We feel that the challenge of responsibility lies heavily on the EU and U.S. to move towards concessions," he told a news conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi attended by various non-governmental organisations campaigning in Africa.
Groups like Oxfam argue that in spending about $1 billion a day on subsidising their farmers, rich countries make it impossible for farmers in poor countries to compete on world markets. They say free trade would be far more effective than aid donations in fighting poverty.
But Kenyan Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi played down hopes of a deal. He said the meeting was designed primarily for informal consultations between up to 18 African ministers, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.
"This is not a negotiating meeting, this is a meeting that informally aims to break the ice and find how we can give political impetus to the process," he told a news conference in Nairobi. "We've been too much in reverse gear and looking over our shoulder."
World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Cancun, Mexico collapsed last year because of a fight between rich and poor nations over rich countries' farm subsidies and disagreement over the need to extend trade rules into new areas.
There have been signs recently that the talks may be revived, but diplomats say there is little chance the current round of WTO negotiations will be complete by the target date of January 1, 2005.
Oxfam has called for the lifting of an annual $1.5 billion sugar subsidy by the European Union, and an end to $3 billion a year in cotton subsidies in the United States.
The EU, one of the most lavish subsidisers, says it could stop subsidising exports to developing countries, a practice that can put poor farmers at a competitive disadvantage even in their home markets.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
