RIGHT TO IMPORT CHEAP GENERIC DRUGS, PHASE-OUT OF AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES CRUCIAL TO POVERTY REDUCTION, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

RIGHT TO IMPORT CHEAP GENERIC DRUGS, PHASE-OUT OF AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES

CRUCIAL TO POVERTY REDUCTION, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is the text of the video message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in support of Oxfam’s “Big Noise” campaign:

In a few days’ time, trade ministers from 146 countries will be meeting at Cancun, in Mexico.  The decisions they take there can make the difference between poverty and starvation -– perhaps even between life and death –- for millions of people in poor countries.

Why?  Because they will decide whether those countries will or will not, at last, be given a real chance to trade their way out of poverty.

Two issues are especially crucial.

One is the issue of intellectual property, as it affects public health in developing countries.  In the run up to Cancun, agreement has been reached on a mechanism to give developing countries that cannot produce cheap generic drugs the right to import them from other countries that can.

This agreement did not go as far as some might have wished -- but it is still an important step.

We must now ensure that developing countries are given the support they need to make use of the mechanisms that have been agreed, so that drugs reach the millions who are suffering and dying.  This is a moral imperative.  

The other issue is much broader, and economically decisive for many developing countries.  It is the issue of trade in agricultural products.

Farmers in poor countries must be given a fair chance to compete, both in world markets and at home.

At present, poor countries are under pressure from rich countries to liberalize their markets.  Yet they find that many of their products are excluded from rich countries’ markets by protective tariffs and quotas.  That is not fair.

Even less fair is the competition they face from heavily subsidized producers in those same rich countries.  These subsidies push prices down, driving the farmers in poor countries out of business.

Far from being empowered, the fisherman in Viet Nam, the cotton-grower in Burkina Faso, and the indigenous cultivator of medicinal herbs in Brazil are being held down.

Many of the poorest countries lose more through missed trading opportunities than they receive in aid or debt relief.

Even in the rich countries themselves, poor farmers benefit least.  Most of the subsidies go to the biggest farms and the largest producers.

For humanity’s sake, these subsidies must be phased out, as fast as possible.

I congratulate all of you who are working to draw attention to this gross injustice.  I am glad to join my voice to your “Big Noise”.

Please make it louder and louder, until the whole world listens!

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