NGOs demand real free trade

“The poor have nothing to lose but their poverty”, say pro-trade NGOs

MIAMI, 17 November, 2003 -- As business, civil society and political leaders from the western hemisphere gather in Miami for the Free Trade Areas of America Ministerial, a group of NGOs urges them to promote real free trade.

The Global Freedom to Trade Campaign, a coalition of pro-globalization NGOs, is calling upon leaders to tear down trade barriers.

Over the next few days, protestors will blame the world’s problems on free trade, but the problem is quite the opposite. Margalit Edelman of International Policy Network explains: “Restrictions on trade are the cause of the world’s problems, not the cure. Economic activity is stifled if governments do not adequately protect property rights and contracts, promote rule of law, create free markets for exchange and craft transparent rules and regulations.”

Meanwhile, incentives to invest in business are undermined when governments do not adequately protect property rights – both real and intellectual. Edelman continues, “Clear rights of ownership and the freedom to buy and sell goods without government intervention are not only fundamental human rights, they are the bedrock of economic development, which is the only way out of poverty.”

Andrés Mejía Vergnaud, Director of Colombia’s Instituto Desarollo y Libertad, echoes these words: “The best way to help people escape from corrupt, oppressive governments, and the onerous regulations they impose is to encourage open, rules-based trading systems. We call on leaders at the FTAA meeting and everywhere to eliminate subsidies, quotas, tariffs and restrictive regulations, so that the masses can escape from poverty.”

The focus will be on Brazil and the US to lead negotiations. “The US and Brazil must resist bowing to special interests clamoring for protection. This means making bold moves to free up trade in agricultural products, textiles and other goods and services,” says Andre Andrade, of Brazil’s Instituto Liberal. “Consumers in developed and developing countries would all benefit from the wider variety of cheaper products that would result from such action. Making it easier to do business in the Americas would also increase investment and help create jobs.”

Mejía Vergnaud, Edelman and Andrade will all be in Miami as part of the Global Freedom to Trade Campaign. Other campaign members include NGOs in Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina, as well as groups from Africa, Asia and Europe. The campaign is coordinated by International Policy Network, a UK charity. Press releases, reports and articles are all available at www.freedomtotrade.org