Food production is the most important goal to those living in poverty. History shows food can be used as a weapon. WTO and other International Organizations are setting up a situation to grab farmland from the poor and monopolize food production. The weapons used are international regulations and patented crops and livestock.
...FAO provides support to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) for their field project activities as well as to the World Bank concerning guidelines on harmonization and standardization...”
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) published a directive that forbids quarantine and testing, while specifying implementation of traceability instead. The USDA's adherence to this agreement, combined with their desire to maintain a so-called disease-free status, is why the USA is seeing so many food recalls. Management tools and traceability are replacing testing for disease and use of quarantine.
The WTO (SPS Agreement)
Article 3 Harmonization
1.To harmonize sanitary and phytosanitary measures on as wide a basis as possible, Members shall base their sanitary or phytosanitary measures on international standards, guidelines or recommendations....
Aims to ensure that governments do not use quarantine and food safety requirements as Unjustified trade barriers to protect domestic industries from import competition. It provides Member countries with a right to implement traceability as an SPS measure
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WORLD TRADE REPORT 2005 C
There are a number of international food safety standards, mainly developed by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)...
Observance of international standards by developing countries, while costly initially, is often necessary to maintain market access ....
www.wto.org...
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An annex to the above agreement names: Relevant standard-setting bodies
FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission www.codexalimentarius.net...
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) www.oie.int...
FAO International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) www.ippc.int...
JOINT FAO/WHO FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAMME CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION
Following a request by OIE International Committee, and to further develop collaboration with the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), a permanent ‘OIE Working Group on Animal Production Food Safety’ was established in 2002.
...The work of ISO Technical Committee 34 (food products) seems most related to work in various Codex Committees ...Under the proposal, each Codex Committee would assign a representative to monitor and review ISO work in its area of interest..
ftp.fao.org...
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The OIE international standards can be used by its 169 Members to prevent the introduction of diseases and pests arising from trade in animals and animal products, while avoiding unjustified sanitary barriers.
www.rr-americas.oie.int...
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IDF and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) signed a formal agreement of cooperation in May 2003...Upon invitation by OIE, IDF has participated in the most recent meetings of an OIE/FAO Drafting Group on the Guide to Good Farming Practices
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Read the guide referenced here, and try to imagine how an African farmer would implement it.
The draft guide to good farming practices www.oie.int...
Even animal ID and traceability are costly and time consuming for the family farmer.
Animal identification and traceability
The Working Group reviewed the work done by the OIE ad hoc Group on animal identification and traceability.. It acknowledged that traceability is important for public health, animal health and other managerial reasons. The Working Group agreed that the OIE, in conjunction with the FAO, should prepare a document to assist the practical implementation of future OIE standards on animal identification and traceability.... The Terrestrial Code Commission endorsed and finalised the draft chapter on animal identification and traceability.
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The OIE “disease-free status” requirements encourage wholesale slaughter of healthy livestock and wildlife instead of the use of vaccines.(see Table 1) It also encourages countries to severely cutback on testing because a positive test could mean losing “OIE disease free status” inviting import bans by other countries.
Table 1 Minimum requirements for a country/region to be declared free from disease (OIE Animal Health Code)” pg 3
When one of the diseases listed in Table 1 is reintroduced into a country, stamping out is the only recognized method of disease control if that country does not wish to go through the qualifying process from the start. However, the stamping out policy may become cause for public concern once a disease outbreak affects a critical number of holdings and large numbers of animals have to be slaughtered.
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What is Stamping out or Depopulation?
The GAO document 05-214 talks about depopulating both diseased and healthy animals, wild and domestic, in 10-km zones around infections. www.gao.gov...
Anyone within 6 mile or 10 km of a disease animal could be subject to quarantine or decontamination. Your pets maybe slaughtered. (The euphemism is "depopulated".) Barns and possibly houses could be subject to burning. I suggest reading:
The Depopulation and Decontamination procedures manual www.fao.org...
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