Thousands of Traidcraft, Fairtrade Foundation and People Tree supporters have been campaigning for an end to US cotton subsidies in the last few months.
5,500 campaign postcards were received by Edward Davey who thanked campaigners for raising this issue – and thousands more signed Traidcraft’s petition to US Ambassador Louis Susman.
And who better to deliver the petition to the US Embassy at this festive time of year than Father Christmas?
He caught the attention of commuters as he forfeited a sleigh ride in favour of the London underground – and struggled on the escalator with the giant sack representing all the people that have taken action.
But eventually he made it to the Embassy (where he was greeted by a special agent) and handed over the petition, along with a letter signed by Traidcraft and the Fairtrade Foundation.
When questioned about his involvement in the campaign, Father Christmas commented:
I am able to deliver presents around the world in one night – yet in the ten years since the Doha Development Round was launched, almost nothing has been delivered for poor countries.
In fact, since the initiation of the Doha round, the US has paid more than $31 billion to its cotton farmers and further dragged down the price poor cotton farmers can get for their crop.
Cotton continues to be one of the most contentious issues at the WTO – a recent proposal by West African countries for a freeze on cotton subsidy spending at current levels was blocked before even getting to the negotiating table.
Lack of action from the US continues to undermine the very notion of a multilateral trade system and threaten the livelihoods of millions of cotton farmers around the world.
Traidcraft is calling on the US to put an end to its illegal, damaging and unfair cotton subsidies and will be following developments at the ministerial later this week.
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