19/09/2005 - Oxfam International
and WWF, the global conservation organisation,
staged a protest this morning outside the
European Council building in Brussels to highlight
the unjust treatment of sugar farmers in the
developing world.
The agencies erected a large set of scales,
which were weighted in favour of EU sugar
and against sugar from poor countries. A 2.5m
tall Lady Justice, blindfolded with the EU
flag, cavorted outside, while Ministers from
6 developing countries including Guyana, Mauritius
and Jamaica discussed the reforms with their
European counterparts inside the Council building.
Photos of the event (in high resolution),
together with a Q&A paper, are available
on www.panda.org/europe/agriculture and www.panda.org/epo
or from Catherine Brett (see below).
Adam Harrison, WWF Food and Agriculture Policy
Officer, said "The world's poorest countries
should be free from the unfair competition
that undermines their industry and prevents
them from raising environmental standards
that can address problems like the loss of
wildlife, pollution and the overuse of water."
Luis Morago, Head of Oxfam's Brussels office
said: "Today's protest was designed to
show just how unfairly the EU is treating
the developing world's sugar producers. The
EU reform plans are skewed massively in favour
of large-scale European producers and big
processing companies. They will destroy sugar
industries in poor countries, on which millions
rely for employment. Europe says it is in
favour of using trade as a tool for poverty
reduction but their unbalanced sugar reform
proposals demonstrate just the opposite. Some
of the very poorest countries in the world
stand to benefit from trade in sugar but the
EU is about to undermine this potential with
its blunt and selfish reform package".
