Reforming New Zealand Agriculture: The WTO Way or Farmer Control?

Abstract

The article contrasts a neoliberal agenda for agriculture championed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and interests within New Zealand, with those of farmer-run institutions, most notably the producer boards. The resources the WTO brings to bear ensure that any struggle it has with producer boards in New Zealand is likely to be one-sided. However this is not to say that the WTO is irresistible. Globalisation and the putative liberalisation of international trade remains a process that is networked, negotiated and implemented in different geographic scales. Consequently there remain possibilities for agriculture and for farmers other than the corporate ‘rule of law’ favoured by the WTO. ?