Christian leaders call for better deal for developing countries

The UK's leading Christians have called on the Secretary of State for International Development to take steps to ensure that the world's poorest countries are not forced into new trade agreements that will make them even less able to develop a healthy economy.

The nineteen leaders include a number of Church of England bishops, the head of the Baptist Union of Great Britain the Rev Jonathan Edwards, the President of the Methodist Conference the Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance the Rev Joel Edwards, and the General Secretary of the United Reformed Church Rev Dr David Cornick.

They argue that current negotiations over a series of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) - designed to determine future trade relations between Europe and Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) - are set to seriously short-change the developing countries by offering what are essentially free trade agreements between unequal partners.

"These negotiations," argue the leaders, "should result in trade agreements that help to bring about justice for some of the world's poorest countries, but we are concerned that they currently threaten to undermine recent progress towards making poverty history."

The Christian leaders' call, spelt out in a letter sent to Douglas Alexander and printed in The Times today, suggests that the EPAs "offer little flexibility to ACP countries, force them to open up their markets to unfair competition with the EU, and accept issues they have already rejected in other trade negotiations."

It continues: "The Commission is using the threat of loss of trade preferences if the deadline is missed, and is implicitly linking aid to signing EPAs, in order to extract all possible concessions during the negotiations."

In March 2005, the UK Government said that trade negotiations should not be used to force liberalisation on the ACP countries. However, Christian Aid, Tearfund and other aid charities point out that the government is alone in Europe in taking this moral stand - and has yet to do enough to back up its words with action.

The Rt Rev Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter, who leads the list of signatories to today's public letter, comments: "The European Commission is exerting considerable pressure on the ACP governments to sign these agreements, in spite of them voicing their repeated concerns about the impacts the agreements will have on their economies.

"This is a justice issue. We cannot stand by and allow the Commission to continue to insist on developing countries opening their markets to European imports, while denying them the right to protect their farmers and industries, or select their own trade policies. It's time for the government to act on its promises."


The full list of signatories includes:

Rt Revd Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter, member of the board of Christian Aid, on behalf of:
Rt Revd John Gladwin, Bishop of Chelmsford and Chair of the Board of Christian Aid
Rt Revd Graham James, Bishop of Norwich,
Rt Revd David Hamid, Bishop in Europe,
Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden,
Rt Revd Stephen Oliver, Bishop of Stepney,
Rt Revd James Newcome, Bishop of Penrith,
Rt Revd Tony Robinson, Bishop of Pontefract,
Revd Dr Martyn Atkins, President of the Methodist Conference,
Revd Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain,
Revd Prof. Stephen Orchard, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church,
Revd Dr David Cornick, General Secretary of the United Reformed Church,
Revd Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance,
Dr Elaine Storkey, Christian academic/broadcaster and Tearfund President,
Roger Forster, Senior Leader, Ichthus Christian Fellowship,
Revd John Owen, President of the General Assembly, Welsh Presbyterian Church,
Revd Ifan Roberts, General Secretary, Welsh Presbyterian Church,
Revd Graham John, Honorary Secretary, Associating Evangelical Churches of Wales.
Revd Hywel Wyn Richards, Chair, CYTUN (Ecumenical Movement in Wales)