2006

A WTO dispute panel rules against EU measures to protect the environment and consumers against harm from GMOs; IATP is the first to post the panel's conclusions and recommendations online

IATP publishes a primer for free-range poultry farmers to protect them and their flocks against avian influenza, a global health threat

IATP publishes a report, summarized in the New York Times, on the incidence of arsenic in U.S. poultry products

Mark Ritchie steps down as president; Jim Harkness is hired as IATP's new president

2005

IATP publishes Cultivating a New Rural Economy on how bio-based fuels and products can revitalize the Upper Midwest

IATP hosts a town hall meeting featuring the UN's Evelyn Herfkens and business leader Marilyn Carlson on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals

IATP publishes a critique of the U.S. food aid system for undercutting local food systems in poor countries

IATP joins a friend of the court brief in a WTO dispute over the EU's system for regulating GMOs

The WTO holds its sixth ministerial in Hong Kong; IATP's Radio Hong Kong podcasts are downloaded more than 13,000 times

IATP webcasts live a first-ever meeting between civil society and WTO director-general candidates from Geneva

2004

IATP issues paper warning about efforts to privatize oceans for industrial fish farming

Monsanto abandons regulatory approval for genetically engineered wheat after farmers object; IATP and the Stop GE Wheat campaign declare victory

IATP and the Earth Council launch the WTO E-Learning Center for NGOs and government representatives around the world who want to learn more about how the WTO works

IATP participates in the UN Conference on Trade and Development and supports the creation of an international task force on commodities

2003

WTO holds its fifth ministerial in Cancún, Mexico. During the ministerial, IATP organizes the first Fair Trade Fair and launches Radio Cancún, daily on-the-ground podcast coverage.

IATP issues the first report documenting the presence of bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics in brand-name poultry products

First discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S.

2002

IATP and Windustry host the first Upper Midwest Wind Energy Show

IATP co-publishes the first book in the Renewing the Countryside series about successful farmers and rural entrepreneurs who protect the land

IATP issues its first report documenting export agricultural dumping by U.S.-based food companies

Sen. Paul Wellstone and his wife, Sheila, are killed in a plane crash

2001

IATP launches the Eat Well Guide, eatwellguide.org, an online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy and eggs available from North American farms, stores, restaurants and online merchants

WTO holds its fourth ministerial in Doha, Qatar, and launches a new round of trade negotiations with the promise of promoting development

IATP hosts a town hall forum with Mary Robinson and Walter Mondale in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

IATP and other coalition members form the Keep Antibiotics Working campaign to end antibiotic overuse in animal production

2000

IATP publishes The Price We Pay for Corporate Hogs, on health, environmental and social costs of factory hog farms

With six other groups, IATP launches GE Food Alert to challenge the use of genetically engineered crops in food

IATP hosts experts from 11 countries on the precautionary principle as a basis for a regulatory system

In Montréal, 131 countries approve the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety, which addresses specific risks of genetically engineered crops

IATP launches Trade Information Project in Geneva to serve as an information clearinghouse on the WTO for NGOs around the world

1999

The WTO holds its third ministerial in Seattle

IATP hosts the first international NGO media center and broadcasts its first live webcast

IATP and the Mississippi Riverwise Partnership work to find solutions to Gulf of Mexico hypoxia; IATP publishes reports on agriculture and climate change

IATP conducts a workshop in Zimbabwe for representatives of 18 African governments on the impact of U.S. agriculture policies on Africa

IATP works with WTO trade negotiators in Geneva to protect the use of indigenous plants without fear of patent violations

IATP participates in its first meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a food-standards body recognized as authoritative by the WTO

1998

IATP's Forestry Program works with forest owners to establish the first value-added, sustainable forestry cooperative in the country

IATP marks the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with an event in New York with Jesse Jackson, John Sweeney and others

IATP publishes Bugs in the System: Redesigning the Pesticide Industry for Sustainable Agriculture, edited by William Vorley and Dennis Keeney

1997

IATP purchases the 2105 First Av. S. building in Minneapolis, a turn-of-the-century home built by the Crosby family, one of the founders of General Mills

IATP launches No Patents on Life campaign and publishes The Ownership of Life

IATP introduces environmental impact assessment yardsticks to help farmers reduce chemical use

IATP incorporates TransFair USA, the first U.S. fair-trade certification body

WTO holds ministerial in Singapore; Mark Ritchie attends as part of the official U.S. delegation

1996

IATP forms Peace Coffee with Guatemala's Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú

The World Food Summit is held; IATP helps draft a Global Convention on Food Security presented to delegates

IATP joins with 25 other groups to form Health Care Without Harm

U.S. Congress approves the Freedom to Farm Bill, wiping out programs that had helped stabilize farm prices. As IATP predicts, prices soon collapse

IATP joins four other NGOs for its first friend of the court brief in a WTO dispute settlement process for the U.S. challenge of the EU's ban on beef raised on growth promoting hormones

1995

IATP holds a series of events nationwide with surviving founders of Bretton Woods and United Nations institutions

IATP organizes a Science and Strategy on Chlorine conference to develop strategies for reducing chlorine use

IATP promotes farmer-led approaches to protecting watersheds

Mark Ritchie is appointed by Vice President Al Gore to the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee

50th anniversary of the United Nations

The World Trade Organization goes into effect

1994

IATP joins with other activists to form the International Forum on Globalization

IATP is the only American NGO present when GATT approves the creation of the World Trade Organization in Marrakech, Morocco. IATP warns about the challenge of WTO rules to democracy at the national level

IATP launches its first Web site, iatp.org

U.S. Congress approves the North American Free Trade Agreement

1993

The New York Times reports on an IATP paper that raises concerns about potentially reintroducing bovine tuberculosis into the U.S. attributable to lax NAFTA regulations

IATP opens Selling to America, training seminars for NGO, government and business leaders from countries around the world

Congress gives President Bill Clinton fast-track negotiating authority. NAFTA is agreed to by all parties and signed by Clinton; the national debate over NAFTA goes full bore

1992

IATP joins AFL-CIO, Friends of the Earth, National Farmers Union, Public Citizen and the Sierra Club in organizing Trade for the 21st Century in Washington, D.C.

IATP warns that if NAFTA is passed, the United States will see a wave of immigration from Mexico due to the devastating impact cheap U.S. corn exports will have on the Mexican economy

IATP launches email news bulletins Trade News and NAFTA Monitor

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, more commonly known as the Earth Summit, meets in Rio de Janeiro; IATP co-hosts the Global Forum on the GATT at the summit

1991

IATP co-hosts a series of trilateral meetings for U.S., Mexican and Canadian organizations on forestry, farm policy, immigration and environmental standards as they relate to trade

IATP publishes a legal critique of the GATT Tuna/Dolphin decision, which strikes down U.S. legislation designed to protect dolphins from death and injury in the nets of tuna fishermen

In New York, IATP conducts trainings and strategy coordination for 20 coalition partners in preparation for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

1990

IATP arranges exchanges among U.S. and Mexican organizations leading up to the battle over NAFTA

IATP organizes an international conference of consumer organizations in Geneva to discuss how GATT will impact consumer protections, including food safety. IATP warns that a proposal could categorize health and safety standards as trade barriers

IATP distributes "Trading Away Our Future"—a video on how GATT affects American agriculture policy—to over 1,000 local organizers, opinion leaders and teachers

Paul Wellstone, one of IATP's earliest and strongest supporters, is elected to the United States Senate

1989

IATP moves out of Mark's basement and into our first office at Sabathani Community Center

IATP purchases its first secret weapon: a Toshiba TF581 fax machine, immortalized in a Nov. 23 Financial Times article: "Through a busy fax machine, Mr. Ritchie keeps farm groups more abreast of GATT developments than many members of Congress."

IATP, in conjunction with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, organizes Trading Away the Environment, a conference outlining threats GATT poses for environmental protection, including climate change

The United States, Canada and Mexico launch talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement

1988

IATP, Prairiefire Rural Action and League of Rural Voters hold a presidential candidate forum on agriculture issues in Ames, Iowa

A GATT meeting in Montréal is met by thousands of anti-globalization protesters. It is one of the first organized civil society challenges to GATT and, later, the WTO

IATP organizes a meeting of farm leaders from the U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe in Brainerd, Minnesota, just prior to the Big Four Summit to negotiate the Uruguay Round agriculture agreement. IATP and farm leaders call for the ministers to retain domestic farm policies, stop agriculture dumping, support fair markets and protect the right to food security

1987

IATP launches the Sustainable Agriculture Computer Network with email, access to shared data and research, news wire services, electronic conferencing and bulletin boards

IATP organizes a series of exchanges with European partners; exchanges include bringing German farm leaders from the Protestant Farmers Association to the United States

IATP organizes the first GATT workshop for farm leaders, agricultural policy makers, churches and other NGOs in Geneva

The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement is signed; it is a precursor to the North American Free Trade Agreement

1986

IATP is founded and headquartered in the basement of Mark Ritchie's house at 3838 Blaisdell Av., Minneapolis

The Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is launched

1985

The first Farm Aid is held in Champaign, Illinois

In November, an international conference, Impact of Agricultural Trade on Domestic Farm Policies, is held in Geneva

Leaders of the meeting decide an American organization is needed to focus on the role of trade and international institutions on domestic farm policy

The meeting brings together many people who will become IATP's board of directors and the idea for IATP is formed

1984

From the 1983 Ottawa meeting, U.S. and European farm leaders and researchers form an informal network that includes exchanges and study tours

1983

Mark Ritchie hosts the Old Timers Conference, bringing together the surviving leadership of the progressive farm movements from the 1920s to the present

Farm leaders from Europe, Asia and the Americas hold an emergency meeting at Canada's parliament in Ottawa to address the worsening agricultural trade situation. The First International Farm Crisis Summit is organized by Mark Ritchie

1979

Mark Ritchie writes Loss of Family Farms, a powerful indictment of U.S. farm policy, which intentionally cut the number of farmers in the country