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 TRADE TOPICS
 Agriculture |  China | Corporate Sustainability | Import  | Poverty |  Security |  TPA/Fast Track

Balancing Trade: Open Markets and Supermarkets
6TH ANNUAL WASHINGTON COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONFERENCE

July 3, 2001
Bell Harbor Conference Center Seattle, WA. 
8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

By convening this year's senator-chaired conference on trade and food, The Washington Council on International Trade took on a controversial, complex and multifaceted problem that is emerging as one of the highest global priorities.

Today at the beginning of the millennium, more than three billion people live in poverty and 800 million of those live in a state of chronic hunger. As the world's population increases by two to four billion over the next 50 years, resolving the poverty-related issues of food production, delivery and consumption will take on critical importance in assuring a decent quality of life around the world.

The events of the day raised many of the complex issues of the role of agriculture in emerging nations and in the industrialized countries.  The 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. session included opening remarks by Senator Patty Murray as well as a brief video statement by Senator Maria Cantwell and keynote remarks by Susan Aaronson. Audience participation was a hallmark of the day: In addition to much of the panel discussions being driven from questions from the floor, Stuart Elway of Elway Research conducted instant audience polling. Click the link to download the polling results (442k PowerPoint file).

Following a question and answer period, the conference's first panel discussion was held on the topic of "Food in the Balance: Are Modern Agricultural Practices an Answer to World Hunger?" Panelists responded to questions from the moderator and audience, searching for solutions to hunger from a variety of perspectives.

After a networking break during which participants could view the newest WCIT trade video, the second panel considered the issues of "Trade Policies: Justifiable Precautions or Barriers to Trade?" The second panel focused more specifically of the interrelationships between trade policy and agriculture.

he day concluded with a luncheon and summary remarks by Glenn Pascall.
While no easy solutions emerged from the day's activities, focusing in on the importance of the questions and the multiplicity of potential solutions helped set the framework for future deliberations on this most universal of issues -- food security.