FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 12, 2007
1:20 PM

CONTACT: Institute for Agricultre and Trade Policy (IATP)
Ben Lilliston, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,
612-870-3416,
ben@iatp.org


US, Canadian and International Groups Call for NAFTA Suspension

Over 70 Groups Support Effort by Mexican Farmers to Renegotiate NAFTA

MINNEAPOLIS - December 12 - The final implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) should be suspended and the controversial treaty should be renegotiated, over 70 U.S., Canadian and international groups wrote in a letter sent today to government leaders in the three NAFTA countries. The letter supports Mexican farm organizations challenging the implementation of the final agricultural provisions of NAFTA, scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2008.

The final provisions of NAFTA include the removal of tariffs on white corn, beans, powdered milk and other staple foods. The groups called for the U.S., Canadian and Mexican governments to “halt the agricultural trade liberalization that is destroying the Mexican countryside, rural communities, indigenous peoples and farmers, driving them into economic exile.â€