BRUSSELS – The Trade and Poverty Forum (TPF) – an independent group of prominent citizens from the world’s leading developing and industrialised democracies – today announced a new plan to revive global trade talks as part of an antipoverty agenda. All members of the group urged action on the following three critical areas: trade reform, with a specific focus on agriculture; multilateral and bilateral aid; and political reform. They also announced plans to build broad coalitions of businesses, NGOs, labour unions, and legislators in their home countries that will call on their governments to support these recommendations.

The purpose of the TPF, which has been meeting for the past year and half, is to develop and advocate for a global anti-poverty approach, acceptable to both developing and industrial nations. Their announcement comes six months after the breakdown of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in Cancun, and the week that the World Trade Organisation’s Committee on Agriculture meets to debates how to reactivate talks to conclude negotiations before the end of year deadline. The decision to push forward an ambitious reform agenda during election years for Europe, India, South Africa, and the United States, reflects the necessity for achieving progress in these areas.

“The world’s democratic governments have thus far failed to meet the urgent need to share the benefits of the global economy more broadly. If implemented, TPF’s recommendations on trade will address key concerns that have held up progress on Doha and can lead to an effective strategy for fighting global poverty,” said Craig Kennedy, President of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, which developed the forum with partners around the globe.

TPF delegations come from the six leading industrialised and developing democracies -- Brazil, the European Union, India, Japan, South Africa, and the United States. The group is comprised of more than 40 highly-regarded citizens representing the spectrum of political views and society. Each delegation is headed by one of the following Chairpersons:

• Dominique Strauss-Kahn (European Union): Member of the French National Assembly; former Minister for the Economy, Finance, and Industry; former Minister of Industry and External Commerce; Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Political Science.
  
• Luiz Felipe Lampreia (Brazil): President of the Board, Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI); former Foreign Minister, Federal Republic of Brazil.
  
• Robert Rubin (United States): Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Citigroup; former Secretary of the Treasury, United States; former Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, The White House.
  
• Rahul Bajaj (India): Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Auto Ltd.; past President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
  
• Shoichiro Toyoda (Japan): Honorary Chairman, Toyota Motor Corporation; Honorary Chairman, Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren); Chairman, The 21st Century Public Policy Institute.
  
• Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa): Chairman, Millennium Consolidated Investments (MCI); former Secretary-General, African National Congress.

Significant multilateral trade reform, with a specific focus on agriculture

• End agricultural export dumping by eliminating the full range of unfair trade practices. Cut agricultural tariffs sharply on goods of particular concern to developing countries.
  
• Keep poverty alleviation a central aim of the Doha Round. Make significant reduction of tariffs for industrial goods and improve market-access for services, in both industrial and developing countries. Address the needs of workers displaced by trade.
  
• Adopt a new regime within the WTO for the least developed and most vulnerable poor countries.

• Governments should improve transparency and accountability.
  
• Strengthen the International Labor Organization and enforce internationally recognised core labour standards in all countries.
  
• Industrial countries should assist developing-country efforts to consolidate democracy and improve governance.

• Create stronger market-based incentives for vaccines to help fight critical diseases, such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
  
• Achieve universal primary education and eliminate gender disparity in secondary education.
  
• Strengthen micro-credit programs in the poorest nations.
  
• Launch a global clean water initiative.
  
• Double international development assistance to the more than $100 billion annually required to meet the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

The Trade and Poverty Forum is a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) (www.gmfus.org) with support from the following institutions: 21st Century Public Policy Institute, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Citigroup Foundation, Confederation of Indian Industry, King Baudouin Foundation, Merck Foundation.

Contact: (For additional contacts, see below)

Nina Mitz for EU delegation, Tel:+ 33 6 07 05 18 62, E-mail: Nina.Mitz@fd.com

Trade and Poverty Forum, The

Trade and Poverty Forum, The

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