Minneapolis – On Friday March 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice will host the first ever workshops on competition issues in agriculture in Ankeny, Iowa. A new IATP fact sheet, NAFTA: Fueling Market Concentration in Agriculture, looks at the role of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in accelerating agribusiness concentration. It includes short testimonies from farm groups in Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

“NAFTA opened the door to create one large, and increasingly concentrated, North American market for big agribusiness companies,” said IATP’s Alexandra Spieldoch. “Farmers in all three countries have been squeezed by a handful of companies. As the Justice Department and the USDA assess competition in agriculture, it is imperative that they consider the international impacts of corporate concentration and reforms needed to create fair markets. Competition reform cannot be viewed exclusively as a domestic issue.”

IATP will be at the March 12 workshop in Ankeny, and will participate in a pre-workshop Thursday night meeting titled: Unleash Food Democracy: Taking on Corporate Power in our Food Supply.

For more information:

·         NAFTA: Fueling Market Concentration in Agriculture

·         IATP’s comment to the USDA and Justice Department

·         IATP blog reports from the Iowa workshop

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems. www.iatp.org.