Hundreds of demonstrators in Geneva denounce the role of the WTO in agriculture

Demonstrators hold up a banner reading "There are potatoes that get lost", "potatoes" meaning punches, against the World Trade Organization on the eve of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva June 11, 2022. The 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization will take place from June 12 to 15, 2022, in Geneva.

AFP - FABRICE COFFRINI

Text by: RFI Follow

3 mins

The Trade Ministers of the member countries of the World Trade Organization are meeting from this Sunday, June 12 and until June 15 in person in Geneva.

A first in four years.

The Sino-American rivalry, the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine have turned the world order upside down in the meantime.

In this difficult context, the organization will simply have to prove its raison d'être.

On the eve of this meeting, nearly 500 people demonstrated in Geneva in favor of food sovereignty.

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What hundreds of demonstrators marched in Geneva on Saturday at the initiative of several farmers' associations to denounce the impact they believe WTO trade agreements have on small agricultural producers, and their link with the current supply difficulties of food products, a consequence of the Ukrainian conflict.

" 

 ," said Nicolas Girod, spokesperson for the French agricultural union Confédération Paysanne, to AFP.

" 

 ", chanted the demonstrators, some of whom carried placards with the slogan " 

 ".

" 

 " at the local level, " 

 ", continued the spokesperson, who added that he " 

 " of the WTO Ministerial Conference, which is to be held until Wednesday.

Present in Geneva alongside @viacampesinaFR to represent the @ConfPaysanne

We warn of the damage here and elsewhere of speculation organized by the WTO

Need for regulation, control and economic protection for farmers and food sovereignty https:/ /t.co/nHWION5Dqh pic.twitter.com/581EeqfMdD

— Nicolas Girod (@NicolasGirod3) June 11, 2022

The restoration of global food security, shattered by the war between Ukraine and Russia, two of the world's largest grain exporting countries, has been shattered, is one of the expectations surrounding the summit meeting of the WTO, which will bring together more than a hundred ministers on the shores of Lake Geneva

The WTO in search of a second wind

The Director General of the WTO,

, will not have an easy task.

She will have to carry out this meeting while certain countries refuse to negotiate with Moscow.

However, the food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine is especially affecting poor countries.

The lack of coordination on the part of the WTO would only fuel criticism of this organisation. 

At the very top of the stack, the fishing folder.

Faced with the overexploitation of fish stocks in the world, the WTO has been negotiating for more than twenty years rules aimed at prohibiting subsidies that threaten the sustainability of fishing.

Another file on the table, intellectual property rights on vaccines, drugs and equipment related to the pandemic.

Poor countries' access to these products must be accelerated.

The negotiations will also focus on the reform of the WTO, customs duties on electronic commerce, agricultural subsidies and even humanitarian aid.

So many subjects that promise tough discussions without necessarily leading to agreements. 

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