TRADE: NGOs Voice Objection to New Round of Global Talks

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Mar 21 2001 (IPS) - The international trade climate shows signs of agitation as representatives of civil society from around the world have launched their first formal opposition to the new round of multilateral negotiations sought by industrialised nations.

A group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) called on Mike Moore, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), this week to halt his international campaign to convoke a new round of talks.

Moore has travelled around the world in recent months to gather support from heads of government and leaders of the private sector for convening the talks during the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference, slated for November in Doha, Qatar.

The NGOs opposed to new global trade talks said they had met in Geneva with many delegations to discuss WTO-related matters, and that while some supported a new round, ” there are even more countries that are not in favourà and several are also strongly opposed to it.”

The consultations the NGOs made also revealed that many countries especially question the introduction of certain new issues into the debate of the multilateral system.

Moore gave a different version of events two weeks ago. He said he had met with several groups of countries that expressed interest in pursuing efforts in various areas, including negotiations on international trade.

The areas Moore mentioned were investment rules, competition policy rules and government procurement. But the NGOs rejected the addition of these new aspects because “they are not trade issues and are not appropriate for the WTO to handle.”

Economist Bhagirath L. Das, of India, commented that the European Union and Japan are pressing for the inclusion of investment matters while the United States, despite “giving the impression at present of being lukewarm in these areas,” is focused on the government procurement question.

The Europeans also intend to impose the negotiation of rules governing competition, he said.

Das commented that the aspirations of some of the industrialised countries are in line with a “continuation of their efforts over the last several decades to take maximum advantage out of the WTO system” and its predecessor until 1995, the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT).

The NGOs critical of a new round, coming from both the developing South and industrialised North, predicted that if these matters are taken up by the WTO, “it would lead to disastrous consequences socially, environmentally, economically and for human rights – for people worldwide.”

Furthermore, negotiations on these matters would be “particularly disastrous for people in developing countries” because their possibilities for development would be greatly hindered.

In a declaration issued this week, the NGOs objected to Moore’s campaign and demanded that the WTO director-general “stop his biased behaviour and remain neutral, so as not to further damage the credibility of his office and of the Secretariat.”

The convening of a new round of multilateral trade talks, as well as the incorporation of new issues, was soundly rejected by representatives from numerous developing countries during a seminar held here last week, organised by the Third World Network.

Indonesia’s negotiator at the WTO, Halida Miljani, warned that there are certain dangers that would arise if investment and competition issues are brought into the WTO-sponsored negotiations.

Uganda’s representative, Nathan Irumba, emphasised the distinction between domestic competition policies, which developing countries need, and international competition rules, “which would not help them.”

Halida, meanwhile, recommended caution on questions of government procurement and called on developing countries to stand up to the pressures surrounding the new issues and the new round of trade talks, stressing that “this requires greater collaboration among the countries of the developing South.”

Ransford Smith, chief of the delegation from Jamaica, flatly rejected new trade talks: “We do not see a new round as a priority.”

At the Ministerial Conference in Doha, only those matters that have been agreed should be debated, maintained Fayza Aboulnaga, Egypt’s trade ambassador. She stressed that delegates must also “overcome attempts to divide developing countries.”

The General Council, the maximum authority at the WTO, began consultations two weeks ago with its member countries to determine the agenda for the November meeting in the Qatar capital.

The dominant criteria expressed by the delegations consulted was that the conference programme – including the matters to be discussed – should be defined by July.

Indian economist Das asserted that “developing countries need to have an effective strategy to face the challenge posed by the push of some major developed countries for starting negotiations in the new areas and for launching a new round.”

The declaration of the NGOs was signed by the Third World Network, Africa Trade Network (Ghana), Alternative Information and Development Centre (South Africa), Consumers Association of Penang (Malaysia), Corporate Europe Observatory (Netherlands), Council of Canadians (Canada), DAWN (Caribbean), Ecoropa (Europe), Equations (India) and Focus on the Global South (Thailand).

Other signatories were the IBON Foundation (Philippines), International NGO Forum on Indonesia Development, Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy (United States), Third World Institute (Uruguay), Legal Resources Centre (Philippines), Fundación Solon (Bolivia), Polaris Institute (Canada), Public Citizen (United States) and World Development Movement (Britain).