Jun 17, 2010
Washington, DC—The Brazilian government announced today that they willpostpone their right to retaliate against the US until the 2012 Farm
Bill. In reaction, Laura Rusu, spokesperson for Oxfam America said:
“This agreement lets the US off the hook for now. But with each day
that passes with no reform, millions of poor cotton farmers around the
world continue to struggle. Eliminating US cotton subsidies could
result in additional income that would literally feed an additional
million children for a year or pay school fees for at least two million
children living in extremely poor West African cotton growing
households.
“The case against American cotton subsidies has been proven time and
time before. The onus is on the US Congress to deliver the needed
reform, in the next Farm Bill if not before.
“Until then, US taxpayers will be paying not just for wasteful
subsidies to large scale US cotton producers, but also compensating
Brazilian farmers for the losses incurred thanks to misguided US farm
policies. If the US Congress fails to make these reforms, Brazil’s
retaliation is likely to be much costlier.”
For more information, contact:
* Laura Rusu, Policy and Campaigns Media Manager
(202) 496-1169 (office)
(202) 459-3739 (mobile)
lrusu@oxfamamerica.org
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