Special Release - Not Under the Same Sky

Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) and the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS)

Special Release - Not Under the Same Sky: Bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Agriculture and Food Sovereignty

This publication is an initial report on the spread of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) throughout the Asia-Pacific and their impacts on agriculture and food sovereignty, in the context of the current state of play of the WTO, and the devastating legacy of agricultural liberalisation through World Bank/International Monetary Fund structural adjustment programmes.

This report examines some of the agricultural liberalisation aspects of FTAs, and also considers concerns about other provisions which impact farmers and food sovereignty in the areas of intellectual property, sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) and investment, including actual or projected impacts on relevant national legislation in areas such as biosafety.

Like WTO agreements, FTA negotiating goals are formed by corporations working closely with government officials. This report backgrounds some of the history behind how agriculture first became subject to global free trade rules at the WTO, and examines both the interests of corporate capital in FTA moves, as well as broader geopolitical goals of the governments involved in FTAs in the Asia-Pacific.

This Special Release on “Not Under the Same Sky: Bilateral Free Trade Agreements, Agriculture and Food Sovereignty” is researched and written by Aziz Choudry, a New Zealand activist, researcher and writer. He is a member of GATT Watchdog, sits on the board of directors of Global Justice Ecology Project and is also involved in a collaborative website project opposed to bilateral free trade and investment agreements, www.bilaterals.org.

This third issue of Special Release is published by the Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) and the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS). This publication aims to provide critical analyses and raise awareness on food sovereignty issues.

To download the full text:

PAN AP website: http://www.panap.net/uploads/media/SR_3_inside_pages.pdf PCFS website: http://www.foodsov.org/resources/resources_000004.pdf

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