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Venezuela not to sign WTO agricultural agreement
The government of Venezuela has decided not to sign the agricultural agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in protest against protectionist policies adopted by developed countries, said Agriculture Minister Efren
Andradeson.
The decision was taken in response to the developed countries' position of refusing to remove agricultural subsidies, the Venezuela minister said just days before the upcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico.
In remarks published by the El Nacional daily, he warned that should the United States, the European Union (EU) and Japan keep their resistance to eliminate subsidies and assistance to the agricultural sector, Venezuela, together with other developing countries, will not lift "its production mechanisms to stimulate the primary sector."
In this sense, the WTO will have to consider agriculture as part of a way of life and the sustenance of people, rather than goto a meeting where the key issue is trade negotiation, Andrades said.
The government will conclude in the coming days the drafting ofa declaration it will present to the WTO meeting in Cancun on Sept.10-14, reported the El
Nacional.
The 146 WTO members will gather in Cancun with an aim to conclude a crucial round of WTO trade talks by Jan. 1, 2005.
Japan levies a 490 percent tariff on rice imports to protect its farmers, seriously affecting rice exports from developing countries such as Vietnam. The US cotton growers get 3.9 billion US dollars in subsidy from the government.
Murray Gibbs of the UNDP Asia Trade Initiative said that the EUand United States has submitted a proposal that "asks the developing countries to reduce their tariffs substantially, but itdoes very little to prevent the subsidization in developed countries."
Power supply guaranteed for WTO meeting in Cancun
The supply of electricity for Cancun during the forthcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting is guaranteed, the Mexican authorities said Wednesday.
"In case of a blackout during the WTO meeting, nothing will affect us," the local press quoted Secretary of the Benito Juarez municipality Eduardo Galaviz as saying.
The Cancun Convention Center, the meeting venue, has emergency power facilities which can guarantee the supply of electricity, said the municipality secretary.
Efrain Villanueva, the provincial government secretary, requested the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to repair facilities of the zone to prevent a blackout during the WTO meeting.
This request came after a power outage broke out Tuesday in thesoutheastern Yucatan Peninsula region, where Cancun is located, and the blackout affected four million people in the area.
The CFE said the interruption was due to discharges in Ticul substation in the south of Yucatan state.
The Yucatan Peninsula suffered a similar incident on Feb. 25 this year, due to problems in the switches of the Temascal-Puebla substation.
Trade ministers from WTO members will meet for talks in Cancun,a city in Quintana Roo state, Mexico, from Sept. 10 to 14.
European Union to invest 6.3 million dollars for Colombia's displaced people
A delegation of the European Union (EU) announced Wednesday that it will grant 5.9 million euros (6.3million US dollars) to help displaced Colombians.
The delegation said the projects must include assistance for the displaced to provide more emergency humanitarian relief to overcome the transition from a subsistence phase to one of self-reliance.
Nicola Bertolini, attache d'affaires of the delegation, said the EU will approve the projects to support the displaced in the internal armed conflict, providing them security, improving basic services and offering psycho-social attention.
The projects will have to consider helping with the reintegration of the displaced into society through the reinforcement of agriculture, ranching, and infrastructure.
The EU also hopes to help the displaced recover their goods, property rights and legal assistance.
Bertolini said the assistance will help the displaced in the Colombian states of Antioquia, Choco, Cordoba, Sucre, Bolivar, Cesar, Magdalena, Narino, Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Santander and Norte de
Santander.
Colombia has been ravaged by a four-decade-long civil war, the longest in Latin America, in which government forces, leftist guerrillas and far-right paramilitaries have been battling each other. About 3,500 people, most civilians, are killed in the internal conflict every year.
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