Don't abandon trade talks, bishop tells developed countries

Published: 2006-07-07

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Policy has urged developed nations not to abandon world trade talks aimed at improving the economies of poor countries. "The Catholic bishops in the United States urge leaders to focus on trade's impact on the poor of the world. Political and moral leadership are needed now," said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., in a letter to the editor of The New York Times. "As we approach the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 (2001), global poverty is still a scandal and a threat to peace and security. Trade that is both fair and free can help address this," the bishop said in the six-paragraph letter, which appeared in the paper July 6. The letter commented on a July 4 Times news story reporting failure by the United States and the European Union to reach agreement on lowering tariffs on imported food products and reducing subsidies to their farmers. The reductions would open U.S. and European markets to food products from underdeveloped countries.

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