Trade

IATP has long been a leader in making sure global agreements protect the rights of farmers around the world. We are active at the United Nations and World Trade Organization and through various bilateral and multilateral agreements to ensure that the rights of farmers to receive a fair price, engage in conservation and sustainable practices, and even just to stay on their land are upheld and respected. We also monitor trade agreements to make sure food safety, environmental safeguards and the rights of farm workers are protected. Visit our Trade & Governance page to learn more.

Food Security and Agricultural Trade Under NAFTA

Three years after the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement began, as agricultural economists debate whether changes in trade flows of commodities may, or may not, be traced to NAFTA itself, a separate but related question remains unaddressed, has NAFTA improved food security in North America?

Exploring the Critical Linkages Between Agriculture, Trade and Environment

Prepared for the meeting of the Global Environment & Trade Study (GETS) at Yale University and the Tokyo-based Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute (GISPRI), June 26-27, 1997 in New York City.

The Grain Train Robbery of 1996

In late May, in a gritty outer ring settlement of Monterrey, Mexico, over 400 men, women and children stopped a grain train and carried its cargo off to their homes. Shouting "We're hungry!," women hauled off the contraband in buckets and two-year-old children carried it gingerly across the tracks in plastic bags.

A Brief History of Work on Regional Integration in North America

Traces the step by step history from 1991 to 1996 of the impacts on agriculture through policy changes implemented through global agencies and institutions and trade agreements such as the WTO, World Bank and IMF, NAFTA and the FTAA.

Mexican Corn, NAFTA and Hunger, May 1996, FACT SHEET 3

Corn is the principal food of the Mexican diet, and the principal crop- planted on 40% of arable land as of 1990. That year it was estimated that two to three million Mexicans grew corn, mostly on small parcels - 65% of 5 acres or less -of often poor quality land.

Free Trade Area of the Americas: Some Implications for Food Security

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a proposed trade agreement that would link all the states of the Western Hemisphere, except Cuba, by the year 2005.

NAFTA/WTO Conflict in Agricultural Trade

On July 14,1995, the U.S. Trade Representative's office (USTR) requested a dispute resolution panel to hear a complaint under Chapter 20 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). At issue is whether NAFTA or the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules will pertain in trade disputes over protective measures.

Myth #7. NAFTA Will Improve Food Security by Enabling Countries to Import Food Cheaply on the World Market

Marrakesh Proposals for Sustainable Trade

In 1994 IATP and IATP Board Member Steve Shrybman from the Canadian Environmental Law Association drafted the “Marrakesh Proposals for Sustainable Trade”. This was a set of formal definitions for an international agreement linking environmental policy with trade organizations.

NAFTA, GATT and the World Trade Organization. The Emerging New World Order

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