Free trade for a better future

THIS WEEK, trade ministers from 148 nations are gathering in Hong Kong for negotiations hosted by the World Trade Organization, the latest in the so-called Doha development round that started in Doha, Qatar, four years ago. The aim of these negotiations has been to liberalize trade -- especially to open the world's richest markets to the world's poorest producers of goods and services. And the crucial issue in Hong Kong is agriculture.

The world community can look back at 2005 with some pride when it comes to helping its poorest citizens. Commitments were made to double aid for African countries and wipe out the debt burdens of at least 18 of the world's most indebted developing nations. But as important as aid and debt relief are, the opportunities generated by trade are far more significant. Freer trade could provide the missing link to jobs and prosperity. Unless the people of Africa and other poor countries have access to markets to sell their products, they will not escape poverty nor give their children a better future.

The trade ministers meeting in Hong Kong for the Doha negotiations will be trying to rewrite the unfair rules that govern agricultural trade around the world. Seventy percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and depend on agriculture to earn a living and feed their families. But instead of being able to freely sell what they produce, they are often denied entry into markets as rich countries protect and prop up their own farmers -- subsidizing products and imposing high tariffs on imports.

Rich countries -- primarily the U.S., Japan and the members of the European Union -- spend $280 billion annually on agricultural support. That's $5 billion a week to protect their often-rich farmers from competition. Ultimately, it is the taxpayers and consumers in these countries who shoulder the costs of these support programs. Economists estimate that consumers pay $168 billion a year because of tariffs, and taxpayers pay $112 billion a year for direct subsidies.

But the real damage is done to farmers in poor countries, because high tariffs keep them out of key markets, and tariffs and subsidies together drive down the world price of their exports. Without the income that trade could provide, it is their children who go hungry and who are deprived of clean water, medicines and other basic necessities of life.