What is the WTO?
Economist John Maynard Keynes once wrote that: "Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all." The World Trade Organization (WTO) puts this philosophy into action on a global scale.
The WTO has been described as a "de facto world government", because unlike the more symbolic United Nations, the WTO maintains the three most essential components of a governing body: legislative (WTO regulations override national ones), judicial (decisions are made by tribunals manned by trade lawyers), and enforcement powers (trade sanctions and fines are meted out if regulations are not respected). Glaringly absent from the WTO, however, is the principle of legitimacy: its operations are notoriously lacking in transparency, and there is no direct democratic participation by the people who are affected by its decisions (everyone on the planet). Working through neoliberal-indoctrinated trade officials in the industrialized nations, transnational corporations are the dominant voice at the WTO, and this is the constituency whose interests are served.
The WTO was a product of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The idea was first proposed by Canadian trade officials, who had drawn up the proposal in conjunction with the Business Council on National Issues (BCNI), a group representing 150 of the largest corporations in Canada. The WTO formally came into existence in 1995. The main objectives of the WTO were twofold: to continue working towards reducing tariffs on imported goods - a process which had been pursued previously within the GATT since 1947 - and to begin a much larger phase of trade liberalization: the elimination of all 'non-tariff barriers to trade.' It is this latter mandate which has enabled the WTO to undermine the principle of national sovereignty in ways that severely limit the possibility of countries to enact effective environmental, health, and social legislation.
The WTO comprises a vast array of legal regulations, including numerous sub-agreements, and to analyze it thoroughly would require many pages. Nevertheless there are a few basic principles which serve as the underlying framework of the WTO. Understand these, and you understand how the WTO serves "the nastiest of men."
'Most Favored Nation Treatment' (MFN) - How the 'Nastiest' get ahead
The principle of MFN requires that all WTO member countries apply their lowest tariff rates (rate of customs duty) to all other member countries. This means that higher duties cannot be imposed on products produced in nations which, for instance, deny workers basic rights. 'Production and process methods' cannot be used to discriminate between products, is the way the WTO officials put it. In plain language, this means that nations can no longer discriminate between products based on their social and environmental impacts. The 'nastiest' get to enjoy the same privileges as those who respect social and environmental rights without giving up any of the fat profits they reap by 'playing dirty'.
'National Treatment' - Eliminating the Possibility of National Solidarity
A primary objective of the WTO is supposedly to put international commerce on an equal footing with domestic commerce; i.e. to create a 'level playing field'. "National Treatment" means that imported goods must be treated in the same way as domestic goods. For example, if Canada offers a subsidy to a domestic company in order to stimulate the creation of jobs and domestic industry, it must offer the same subsidies to foreign companies. One of the results is that domestic industry cannot be nurtured and developed to the point that it can compete with the global 'heavyweights'; another result is that an emphasis on local agriculture - in the interests of food security and the maintenance of biodiversity - cannot be maintained.
Expanding Economic Liberalization beyond Goods: GATS, TRIPS, etc.
Within the WTO are numerous sub-agreements which seek to expand neoliberal principles into virtually every sector of the economy. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) seeks to liberalize services. It will provide transnational corporations with the legal tools to force governments to open public services like health and education to private competition, thus creating two tier systems (prestige service for the wealthy; gutted public service for the rest), or, in the case of many poorer nations, complete privatization. The Trade Related Intellectual Property Measures (TRIPS) establishes global rules on intellectual 'property' such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Thanks to these rules, biotech corporations will be able to monopolize the profits from their 'biotech' revolution and, if they have it their way, be the legal stewards of the global food supply. In the pharmaceutical field, corporations which own drug-patents are using TRIPS to prevent poor countries from creating cheaper, generic drugs which could be used to deal with national emergencies such as the AIDS epidemics in Africa and Brazil.
The Military Industrial Complex Given Special Treatment
In general, the WTO seeks, unconditionally, to empower the private sector. There is, however, one major exception: Article XXI exempts activities related to "national security" from WTO challenge. This allows the free flow of tax dollars - via government subsidies - into weapons-producing industries which, in turn, stimulates arms exports and arms proliferation. This provision also ensures that repressive measures which curtail civil liberties - measures such as press censorship, covert surveillance, etc. - cannot be opened to challenge via the WTO.
Popular Resistance Mounts
After being shut down by demonstrations in Seattle in 1999 and then forced to hide out in Qatar in 2001, the WTO process is now experiencing a crisis of legitimacy. In late July, Pierre Pettigrew (a.k.a. 'Corporate Pett'), Canada's Minister of International Trade, and a select group of WTO ministers will try to resurrect the WTO in Montreal on the path to a major September meeting of trade ministers in Cancun, Mexico. Their intention is to establish new modalities of negotiation - and possibly an imposed agenda - in time for Cancun. Trade ministers have described the closed meeting as a "last ditch bid" to revive the WTO process.
In response, a "Mobilization Against the WTO Mini-Ministerial in Montreal", an open organizational assembly process by Montreal region activists affiliated with various local anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, and anti-war groups, has mounted an ambitious campaign of resistance. July 27-30 are days of action, with a major "No One is Illegal" march planned for July 27, and various educational events (teach-ins, conferences) will occur during the lead-up period.
For more information, contact "Mobilization Against the WTO Mini-Ministerial in Montreal" at: resisteomc@resist.ca or visit our website at montreal.resist.ca