Contents:
1. UNITED NATIONS SAYS POOR COUNTRIES SUFFERING FROM TRADE RULES
2. GHANA AND THE WEST: THE GIRAFFE AND THE ANTELOPE
3. GM FOOD TRADE WAR THREAT


1. UNITED NATIONS SAYS POOR COUNTRIES SUFFERING FROM TRADE RULES
In a stinging rebuke to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the central argument of
the Trade Justice campaign, that poor countries are earning consistently less and less
from trade, has now received United Nations backing.

Released last Monday, the annual report from the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) highlighted how developing countries are earning
relatively less from trade, and how this is a function of the power imbalances in the
WTO which see rich countries turn the trade agenda in their favour.

The report outlined how exports from developing countries have actually grown by
almost 12 percent a year since the 1980s but for the majority of those countries, their
share of world income has failed to keep pace. For example, statistics show that
electronics exports from developing countries have increased four-fold since 1980, but
most of that growth stems from the increased use of cheap, unskilled labour by
multinational companies.

The report rubbished the WTO mantra that greater participation in trade will
automatically bring large gains in income. Dr. Richard Kozul-Wright, who introduced the
report, said he hoped it would be used to help support developing countries in their
efforts to trade on better terms in the current round of trade talks at the WTO. "Many
developing country negotiators are under tremendous pressures," he said, adding that
they are often without a voice in the WTO because of the concentration of power in the
top twelve traders.

***More Info***
Read the report, or the summary, at:
 http://www.unctad.org/en/pub/pubframe.htm


2. GHANA AND THE WEST: THE GIRAFFE AND THE ANTELOPE
So just what are the effects of unfair trade that the UN is talking about? How does
something as far removed as global trade rules impact on the people of developing
countries? In an open letter to Tony Blair, Christian Aid demonstrates.

"As the traffic lights turn red, a mass of bodies dart into the road and weave in and
between the lines of stationary vehicles. Each bears an armful of goods for sale: toilet
rolls, dog chains, cigarette lighters, chewing gum. These are Ghana's young
entrepreneurs, who spend day after day leaning through the open windows of cars,
selling cheap goods to impatient commuters.

"Bismarck Agyei, a child-trader says, "My mum and dad are farmers in the Eastern
Region of Ghana. There's no work there, so I've come to Accra to earn enough money
to leave Ghana. This country is no good." Bismarck says he can earn up to [£2] per day
but this is only if he manages to sell all his cigarette lighters. Most days, he admits, he
will be lucky if he sells half.

"Rev. Dr. Aboagye-Mensah from the Christian Council of Ghana, says: "International
trade between Ghana and the West is like an antelope and a giraffe competing for fruit
which is at the top of a tree. You can make the ground beneath their feet level but the
contest will still not be fair.""


3. GM FOOD TRADE WAR THREAT
The US government is claiming that your right to know if the food you are eating is
made from genetically modified (GM) sources constitutes a barrier to trade - and is
threatening a full-scale trade war that could see your ability to find out what you are
eating severely compromised.

In the latest in a series of trade stand-offs, the Bush administration has criticised EU
proposals to make it compulsory to label all food containing GM ingredients or
derivatives. A higher proportion of food made in the US contains GM ingredients, and
so the US believes, with some justification, that if consumers were allowed to know
which foods are GM, US food exports would be hit.

So the US is threatening to instigate a trade war by using the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). Earlier this year, US trade representative Robert Zoellick told the House of
Representatives that the EU stance was "totally unacceptable.I'm strongly considering
bringing a WTO action."

But a recent MORI survey found that 76% of the British public said the labelling of GM
food should be made compulsory. Greenpeace campaigner Charlie Kronick said of the
situation: "Tony Blair.can defend US corporations or he can defend the British people.
George Bush is determined to help America's GM industry dominate Europe's food
supply.The Prime Minister should stand up to Bush and protect the rights of British
consumers and our environment."

***More Info***
Shoppers' guide to what food in your basket is GM:
 http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/Products/GM/index2.cfm

***Take Action***
Get active on GM foods at:
 http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/Products/GM/active.htm


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People & Planet (previously Third World First) is an independent organisation of student
groups at over 100 universities and colleges nation-wide campaigning to end world
poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment.