what impact did the uruguay round have on food, people and the environment?
The Uruguay Round and the AOA have allowed the developed world to maintain high levels of domestic support for agriculture by subsidising their own farmers, whilst continuing to restrict access to its own markets. Large farms (which often employ fewer people per hectare) and agri-business (which would not have developed to anything like its present scale without public subsidies) are favoured in both the North and the South. The AOA therefore has significant impacts on rural communities and on the environment. Large farms tend to be more intensive and highly mechanised. They benefit from new and more powerful agro-chemicals, further damaging the environment. Where food safety is concerned, the SPS Agreement has been used to rule in favour of free trade. WTO dispute rulings also favour free trade over development and social issues. For example, the European Union’s preferential import regime for Caribbean banana farmers – aimed at supporting small scale growers where costs are high beca
