Even as the White House scrambles to deal with the flood of child migrants from Central America, a $277 million economic aid package for El Salvador is being delayed by the administration because of a trade dispute over a modest seed program to help small farmers grow staples like maize and beans.
The trade dispute stems from how the ministry of agriculture procures the seeds for distribution. Government contracts for seed purchases are estimated at about $30 million a year, and the question is whether units of U.S. corporations like Monsanto Co. are being cut out in the effort to buy more seed from smaller, Salvadoran producers.
Supporters of the program argue that the ministry is seeking only to allow small and medium producers to better compete, while fostering a sustainable seed industry inside El Salvador. Critics say the process in recent years has violated the principles of transparency and nondiscrimination under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA-DR, approved in 2005.
Given Monsanto’s presence, activists have sought to make the fight about the giant company’s genetically modified, or GMO, seeds. And the political optics feed into the charge from critics that the administration is manipulating the approval of the compact in order to advance the interests of U.S.-based, transnational agribusinesses.
The U.S. Embassy in Salvador denies any effort to promote GMO seeds. But in a recent posting on its website, the embassy acknowledges that a resolution of the seed procurement issue is a condition for the U.S. aid.
“We are asking the government of El Salvador to implement the procurement program for corn and bean seeds in a competitive, objective and transparent manner,” the embassy wrote. “We are hoping the remaining issues can be resolved.”
Read the full, original article: Trade dispute hangs over White House child-migrant
