Montreal Round of NAFTA Negotiations Threatens Health, Family Farms and the Environment

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The latest round of secret negotiations on a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) concludes today in Montreal. Central topics of discussion among negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States this past week have been provisions rolling back food safety, chemical and pesticide regulations governing agricultural products, according to Politico.

Bill Waren, senior trade analyst at Friends of the Earth, has released a new analysis focused on trade implications for agriculture and food policy.

Bill also issued the following statement:

The decision to continue talking on NAFTA is bad news for our environment. While trade ministers make secret deals, we can be assured what they see as progress will no doubt put our environment and public health at risk.

Family farmers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico are threatened by NAFTA renegotiation. A renegotiated NAFTA promises more commodity speculation, more corporate price gouging of family farmers and consumers and more environmental destruction in rural North America. It is also clear that NAFTA renegotiation threatens environmental protections across the board, particularly in connection with food safety and regulations related to dangerous chemicals and pesticides.

No NAFTA would be better than Trump’s NAFTA.

Expert contact: Bill Waren, (202) 222-0746, [email protected]
Communications contact: Patrick Davis, (202) 222-0744, [email protected]