In a press conference held by civil society organizations from G33 countries last March 21 in Jakarta, Indonesia, AFA Chairperson Seo, Jung Eui called on G33 ministers to stand firm in the WTO negotiations to protect the interest of small farmers.
He manifested AFA’s support to SPs and SSM, but he also expressed his opinion that it is doubtful if G33 can succeed against the US and the EU, in which case, the only way to protect farmers is to take agriculture out of WTO.
A CSO Strategy Meeting on WTO, which ran parallel to the meeting of G33 officials, was held the day before. The CSO parallel meeting was organized by the G-33 CSO Alliance, People Coalition for Food Sovereignty, Indonesia and RWAN. Binadesa (InDHRRA) was one of the local hosts. AsiaDHRRA Program Officer Lany Rebagay and AFA Technical Assistant Jun Virola accompanied Seo in the meeting.
The press conference was held after an informal dialogue with G33 ministers at the Grand Melia Hotel where the G33 meeting was held.
AFA Chairperson Seo and Ka Sita of PAKISAMA were among the CSO representatives who held a dialogue with the G33 officials over lunch. They presented the position crafted by the CSOs during the strategy meeting on May 20. They reassured the G33 officials of the CSO support to SPs and SSM, while G33 officials also reassured CSOs that they will stand firm in their position. Among the officials they talked with are those from the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, and China.
In a press conference that followed later, they shared what transpired during the dialogue. Ka Nestor of PKSK read the CSO statement in English to members of the national media in Indonesia. Chairman Seo spoke during the press conference about the efforts of AFA to protect farmers’ rights and improve their livelihood. He manifested AFA’s support to SPs and SSM in the WTO negotiations, but he also expressed his opinion that it is doubtful if G33 can succeed against the US and the EU, in which case, the only way to protect farmers is to take agriculture out of WTO.
After the press conference, the CSOs again met for the last time to share more updates and assess the dialogue. The statement was revised to make it more forceful in the light of WTO Director General Pascal Lamy and US trade delegates’ presence in the G33 meeting. The statement was officially presented to the G33 meeting the next day.
The CSO meeting ended with a planning session where the different groups tried to consolidate their efforts and come up with common actions related to G33. AFA and AsiaDHRRA shared their initiatives such as national regional consultations on various issues and interest in co-organizing activities related to G33. The proposal was warmly received by the convenors and rest of the CSOs.
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