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36 THE RURAL VOICE
NEWS
GATT: BLESSING OR
CURSE FOR FARMS?
Two contributors to the most recent
of the Faith in Agriculture talks spon-
sored by the Christian Farmers Federa-
tion of Ontario took opposing view-
points on the merits of the current round
of the GATT (General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade) talks.
John Phillips of Farm and Country
newspaper told the meeting that GATT
ambassador Sylvia Ostry is selling out
agriculture on behalf of industry. Ostry,
Phillips said, voluntarily put our mar-
keting board systems on the negotiating
table. None of the other 200 countries
asked for this, nor are they willing to put
their own programs at peril, he added.
But a food industry consultant from
Ottawa, Robert de Valk, said that GATT
gives us opportunities we haven't had
for years. It's a big jump forward from
regional to international agricultural
policies, he added. Regional policies,
he said, include those established by the
European Common Market, the New
Zealand -Australia trade agreement, and
the proposed Canada -U.S. agreement.
Phillips, however, says he is afraid
that our rural values will be traded for
Ostry's financial values.
"The utilitarian economists argue
that if millions of cattle or billions of
chickens can be produced on vast corpo-
rate or state-owned ranches in Upper
Bonga at the lowest possible price, that
is where they will be raised."
Ostry is determined to end the "new
protectionism" of quotas and subsidies
that hinder international trade, he said.
But it is the GATT that should be fought
instead of wasting time on fighting the
Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is
small potatoes, comparatively, he said.
Phillips also sounded a warning to
farmers. Among the good "structures"
are the family farm, business, and home.
But it's people who make the structures
good or bad. A greedy farmer can per-
vert the family farm.
"A good farmer, one who cares and
shares and loves his family, can sanctify
the enure enterprise."
Our leaders in Ottawa and Queen's
Park haven't thought about what would
happen if the new world masters in
Brussels decided that by their standards