I WELCOMED the opportunity I had with other campaigners for Trade Justice for Developing Countries to meet Hilary Benn.

He is the Secretary of State for International Development, and we had been invited to meet him when he was invited to visit Worcester by candidate Michael Foster.

I would like to raise a few of the issues we talked with him about. I believe International Development and, in particular the part trade has to relieve poverty, to be one of the most important issues in this General Election.

Mr Benn believes that cheap imports allowed the poor to afford such foods.

However, countries such as Ghana had a burgeoning rice production which employed many small farmers and this has been undercut by their market being forced to open up to American rice.

The Mozambique sugar industry has been disastrously undermined by European beet sugar. The over-production of European sugar is made possible by state subsidy, the cost of production of beet sugar being much higher than African cane sugar. It is being dumped into Africa, at the same time as Europe imposes escalating barriers to African products.

The same is true of European over-produced milk, made into milk powder, which has ruined the Jamaican milk industry. This has happened because the rich countries control the world trading and financial systems, through the World Trade Organisation, the IMF and the World Bank. Many development countries are heavily in debt This is whay they need further debit relief and they need fairer trade.

ANTHONY WOOD,

Worcester.

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