Oxfam: Bilateral Agreements Won't Help Fight Poverty
18 November 2003
Oxfam International warned today that the announcement of bilateral agreements linking the US to a number of Latin American countries would not help poverty reduction and sustainable development.
"The FTAA and bilateral deals will not deliver on development and will only divert attention away from the pressing need to get the Doha Development Round at the WTO back on track." Said Phil Bloomer, Trade campaign manager, Oxfam International.
The proposed rules in the bilateral agreements erode development prospects in the hemisphere. Unfair patent rules will reduce poor people's access to affordable medicines. And unregulated opening of agricultural markets will stop governments from protecting their farmers from unfair competition and US dumping.
Existing bilateral and regional pacts, such as NAFTA and the FTAs with Chile and Singapore, are not good precedents as far as development and the reduction of poverty are concerned.
"NAFTA has failed the 45 million Mexicans who remain in poverty. The danger is that these new bilateral deals will extend the same bad deal to millions more."
