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Saturday, December 10, 2005
Farmers, traders in worldwide protest v. tariff agreement
MORE than 30,000 farmers and other concerned sectors of Benguet have joined the silent protest being implemented against the full implementation of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (Gatt).
They have affixed their signatures in a campaign now being circulated worldwide, which aims to gather at least 10 million signatures from different member-countries to be presented during the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Fifth Ministerial Convention in Hong Kong scheduled from December 13 to 18 this year.
The Philippines, which is one of the signatories to the WTO, is expected to come out with at least one million signatures against its implementation.
Meanwhile, Benguet Board Member John Kim will represent the Philippines' vegetable industry to the five-day conference. He was appointed as member of the team of private advisers who would join the delegation of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to the convention.
Kim is one of the advocates for fair trade between the WTO-member countries. He will be presenting at least three issues to be resolved in the convention.
The board member is looking forward to the elimination of government subsidies given to farmers in some countries.
Maintenance of the tariff rates on products, either going out or coming to the country, will also be emphasized.
Strict compliance to the Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) requirements will also be aired during the conference. The SPS is required on all agricultural products to ensure that they are free from pests and diseases. (JC)
(December 10, 2005 issue)
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