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Last week, the Agriculture Committee met in the WTO to see if the current deadlock on all aspects of the agreement on agriculture (AoA) can be bridged.

The European Union agriculture ministers last week agreed on measures for reform of their common agriculture policy.

In Palermo, the European Union is supposed to decide on its position for the next WTO Ministerial that will take place in Cancun, Mexico, from 10 to 14 September.

The laws set out stringent requirements for labelling GM products, reflecting the view held by the European Commission that the GM issue is one of consumer choice and not of food safety.

The 'evil' generated by this misdirected welfare policy affects poor-country farmers who are financing the social welfare doled out to rich-country farmers, according to Ricupero.

Some of the groups present: National Wildlife Federation, OXFAM U.S., FoE, WWF, Consumers Choice Council, Sierra Club, AFL-CIO, CIEL, Humane Society, Bread for the World, Public Citizen. The meeting lasted for about one hour and was basically a question & answer session.

An eclectic crowd of nearly 1,000 filled the Crest Theater Monday night for the only public debate in conjunction with this week's international agriculture conference at the Sacramento Convention Center.

'It is a myth that science and technology play a critical role in reducing hunger in developing countries. The claim that we must accept genetically engineered foods if we are to feed the poor in the Third World is simply 'poorwashing',' -Anuradha Mittal

The European Union has been the driving force behind calls for an investment agreement through the WTO, with the European Commission claiming this will bring development benefits to recipient countries.

The statement said that India had consistently opposed expansion of the WTO agenda to include new issues.