Colombian diary farmers threatened by FTA .

[Judi Lynn]

Colombian diary farmers threatened by FTA .
Friday, 18 May 2012 10:15
Rosemary Westwood

The Colombian government has admitted that an increase in whey imports as part the Free Trade Agreement with the United States will hurt dairy farmers, reported local media Friday.

U.S. whey products can now compete tariff-free with local dairy products – a fact the Minister of Agriculture Juan Camilo Restrepo said could damage Colombia’s diary industry.

“The Agriculture Ministry will search every last crevice of the Free Trade Agreement to see how we can prevent excessive imports of whey that will hurt producers in general and the Colombian dairy industry,” said Restrepo.

Whey, the liquid by-product of cheese, is used in animal feeds and food products, including dairy products, processed meats, snack foods and infant formulas. The U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of whey and a traditional competitor to Colombian dairy companies.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/24124-colombia-diary-farmers-threatend-by-fta.html

[mactime]

1. Kinda backwards if you ask me

instead of making it more lucrative for Colombian farmers to plant 'legal' products they are making it less lucrative

[Judi Lynn]

3. Absolutely! It's a painful, horrible truth.

Also, a lot of the current coca growers used to be coffee growers until their government ended neccessary supports for them, making it far harder, and far more expensive, if not impossible to keep planting coffee.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Trade deal with U.S. could harm Colombia farmers

Trade deal with U.S. could harm Colombia farmers
Fri May 18, 2012 12:20pm EDT
By Diana Delgado

BOGOTA, May 18 (Reuters) - Colombia promised that a free trade agreement with the United States will create jobs and stimulate the economy, but farmers in the Andean nation fear their livelihoods are at risk and they will become prey of large U.S. agribusiness.

The government said the accord, which came into effect this week, will add as much as 1 percentage point of growth to the economy and trim two percentage points from unemployment. Small-scale farmers, however, fear that the local market will succumb to cheap U.S. exports and that thousands will lose their jobs.

~snip~
Textile, leather, cocoa, tobacco and jewelry producers stand to benefit from the Free Trade Agreement, or FTA. But the flip side of the deal is that thousands of small-scale Colombian farmers - including poultry, cattle, dairy, grain and bean producers - will come face to face with large U.S.-based agribusiness.

A study by several economists published by local rights organization Planeta Paz concluded that the Colombian market will be swamped with cheap U.S. food products.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/colombia-usa-trade-idUSL1E8GED6I20120518?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssTechMediaTelecomNews&rpc=401