Résistons à L'OMC / Resist the WTO
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WTO Charm Offensive (June 29, 2003 / ZNet) "...pressure is now on for the WTO to expand yet again, most significantly to include a controversial investment agreement similar to the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) which stalled at the OECD in late 1998 after worldwide opposition. The neoliberal model which the WTO advances continues to wreak destruction and misery, hand in hand with the overt militarization of the planet. Isn't it time that we clearly acknowledge that the WTO and the other institutions which do the bidding of global capital, and the capitalist model within which they exist should be nixed, not fixed, sunk, not shrunk?..."
Many Developing Countries Against Trade Facilitation Rules in WTO (June 28, 2003 / TWN) A Third World Network Report on a final meeting on trade facilitation held at the WTO’s Goods Council. Summarizing, Martin Khor writes: "...Thus, for all the Singapore issues (investment, competition, transparecy in government procurement, trade facilitation), there has been no convergence of views on clarifying the issues, let alone on modalities for possible negotiations of new agreements."
Bush sort son arsenal (28 juin, 2003 / LeDevoir) - "...Pour arriver à ses fins, l'arsenal a été savamment choisi : une plainte formelle déposée avec le Canada et l'Argentine devant l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) -- les procédures ont commencé jeudi dernier --, une accusation tout aussi formelle portée à la veille du sommet américano-européen contre l'UE, que Bush tient responsable d'entretenir, avec son moratoire, la famine en Afrique, et, en coulisse, une campagne de séduction du pape, orchestrée par Colin Powell, pour que le souverain pontife se prononce officiellement en faveur des OGM...."; Brussels again blasts US over biotech foods (June 28, 2003 / Reuters)
US says EU farm reform needs second act (June 27, 2003 / Reuters); Perspectives - Déblocage agricole (6 juillet, 2003 / Le Devoir)
Mega-Mobilisations Against the Mini-Ministerial - Popular Mobilisation Against the WTO Launches Campaign (June 27, 2003); Méga-mobilisations contre la rencontre mini-ministérielle : La Mobilisation populaire contre l'OMC lance sa campagne (27 juin, 2003); Montréal attend plusieurs milliers de manifestants antimondialisation (27 juin, 2003 / Le Devoir); Des manifestants prévoient perturber la rencontre sur le commerce (June 27, 2003 / PC); La mobilisation s'organise pour contrer la réunion de l'OMC (28 juin, 2003 / La Presse); Activists threaten to disrupt WTO ministers' meeting (June 28, 2003 / Gazette); Protesters threaten to disrupt trade meeting (June 27, 2003 / CP) - edited down CP article which appeared on Canada.com; Protesters threaten to disrupt July trade meeting in Montreal (June 27, 2003 / CP) - full CP article
Les Européens s'entendent sur une politique agricole commune (27 juin, 2003 / Le Devoir); U.S., EU Pledge to Make WTO Talks 'Success' (June 25, 2003 / Reuters); EU farm deal raises hopes of top WTO officials (June 26, 2003 / AFP); Brazil Says EU Farm Reform May Aid WTO Talks (June 26, 2003 / Reuters); Canada Says EU Reform Deal Could Spur WTO Progress (June 26, 2003 / Reuters)
Saputo veut optimiser sa production (27 juin, 2003 / Le Devoir) - "...Saputo explique qu'afin de se plier à cette décision de l'OMC, «les transformateurs laitiers canadiens sont contraints d'exporter leurs produits à des prix qui rendent non concurrentielle l'exportation de produits laitiers à partir du Canada»...."; Saputo shutting cheese plant in Cookstown, Ont., slicing 62 jobs; WTO blamed (June 26, 2003 / CP)
EU warns of penalties against U.S. products unless WTO disputes resolved (June 26, 2003 / CP)
The MAI: Alive and Well at the WTO (June 24, 2003 / IUF)
Doha Programme Hasn't Fulfilled Development Promise, WTO Symposium Told (June 23, 2003 / Third World Network)
US unveils "roadmap" to free trade with Middle East (June 23, 2003 / AFP) "...[USTR Robert] Zoellick said the free trade area will be built "step by step", a gradual process that would end by combining states reaching bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Washington into a single regional accord encompassing the Middle East and North Africa. He listed a series of steps to help regional states conclude bilateral free trade accords with the United States, by joining the World Trade Organisation, the Generalised System of Preferences, Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties. Zoellick said the United States was ready to help Arab states reach this goal, including more than one billion dollars in annual aid...." (so this deal is so 'advantageous' that it requires a billion dollar bonus to sell it.??).
India Cautions on Singapore Issues (June 23, 2003 / Third World Network)
USTR: US Backs WTO Entry For Peaceful Mideast Nations (June 23, 2003 / DowJones); See A Return to the Cradle of Free Trade (June 23, 2003 / Washington Post) - Robert Zoellick (USTR) portrays free-trade deals with the U.S. and membership in the WTO as a path for Middle-East nations to return to a glorious past (where everyone is playing one of those 'unscrupulous Arab merchant' bit-parts that films like Ben Hur immortalized?)
NGOs Organize Against Proposed WTO Investment Agreement (June 23, 2003 / One World)
Bilateral Investment And Trade Deals No Fairytale (June 22, 2003 / ZNet) - Aziz Choudry on the mounting dilemma posed by the proliferation of bilateral trade deals.
The Philippines under the WTO: An Unmitigated Disaster (June 22, 2003 / Focus on the Global South) "...not only have the promised benefits not materialized, the local economy has been worse off under the WTO...."
Egypt Mini-ministerial (June 21-22, 2003) articles:
Trade: WTO ignores calls for democratic, inclusive processes for Cancun (June 23, 2003, South-North Development Monitor)
African Ministers Affirm Opposition to New Issues in Cancun (June 20, 2003 / Third World Network)
African Groups Condemn Bush Administration's WTO Challenge; GMOs Not Answer to African Hunger (June 18, 2003 / Public Citizen) "An African hunger expert and a prominent African consumer leader are condemning the Bush administration's challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) of European policies on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), saying that GMOs are not the answer to African hunger and noting that Zambia has pulled itself out of a food crisis without accepting GMO food aid...."
United States seeks WTO panel to decide case against EU biotech moratorium (June 20, 2003) - see May 14 articles below for more on this issue...
UK Hypocrisy At The WTO Will Hurt Poor Countries (June 20, 2003 / CAFOD and South Centre) "Britain is one of the strongest supporters of new talks on investment at the WTO Ministerial in Cancun ... [but] CAFOD says that all of today’s developed countries discriminated against foreign investment to safeguard their long-term national development. They used, and are still to an extent using, a range of instruments to channel foreign investment towards building up their own national industry...."
WTO Chief Sets Up Advisory Bodies With Business, NGOs to Boost Dialogue (June 17, 2003 / WTO Reporter) "...The list of NGO members has not been made public due to what sources said was a reluctance by these organizations, many of them fierce critics of the WTO and its free trade agenda, to be openly associated with the trade body...."
Canada the site of preparatory WTO talks in July (June 17, 2003 / Globe&Mail)
US Files WTO Action Against MexicoDialogue (June 16, 2003 / Reuters)
Officials Talk Americas Free Trade Amid WTO Uncertainty (June 16, 2003 / DowJones)
EU leaders plead for France to take `reasonable' position to aid WTO talks (June 13, 2003 / CP)
Last WTO 'Mini-Ministerial' Meeting Before Cancun Set for July 28-30 in Montreal (June 12, 2003 / International Trade Reporter) "U.S. and other government officials, in the meantime, said that the mini-ministerial being held in Montreal late next month will be critical not only because it will take place only weeks before the ministerial conference in Cancun but also because it will fall between two important WTO negotiating sessions in Geneva, Switzerland- -a meeting of the General Council July 24-25 and a recently added meeting of the Negotiating Group on Market Access, now scheduled for Aug. 18-20."
Bid to save WTO meeting (June 9, 2003 / SA) - "A number of trade ministers are to make a last-ditch bid to resolve deadlocks on trade liberalisation before the September meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)...." The article doesn't specify, but it seems like it is referring to the Montreal mini-ministerial.
Who knows? (June 5-11, 2003 / Montreal Hour) A recent provincial court decision (see: Resist the G20, archive section) exonerated activists Jonathan Aspireault-Masse, Jaggi Singh and Christina Xydous and left Montreal's police squad looking like the real troublemakers. In this exposé/opinion piece, Martin Patriquin speculates whether Montreal police will be shaping up their act in time for the WTO mini-ministerial in late July.
WTO Rules a Threat to the Poor (June 7, 2003 / The Nation - Kenya)
International trade minister pronounces end of anti-globalization movement (June 6, 2003 / CP); Le mouvement antimondialisation s'essouffle, selon Pettigrew (7 juin, 2003 / CP) Acknowledging that "anti-globalization" is a misnomer, Corporate Pett calls a press conference to get snooty about it.
CSIS cites animal rights, anti-globalization movements as possible terrorists (June 5, 2003 / CNews)
Bank of Canada Dodge Sees WTO Hurdle in Farm Trade (June 5, 2003 / Reuters) "...Canada has also been the target of complaints against some of its supply-managed farm sectors and the Canadian Wheat Board, a state-run grain exporter. '...major effort is required,' [Bank of Canada Governor David ] Dodge said.... 'This effort must be made so that the global economy can benefit. It won't be easy, but in the long run it will be worth it.' "
No To Free Trade Agreements: Declaration of the Central American Social Movements (June 4, 2003 / Managua)
WTO Chief Supachai Warns FTAs, RTAs May Breach WTO Rules (June 4, 2003 / DowJones)
SARS highlights urgency of cracking WTO cheap medicines deadlock (June 4, 2003 / AFP) - "The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries ...criticised the US' position, saying it would not accept 'any attempts to roll-back the commitments made in the interest of public health' by trade ministers at their 2001 meeting in Doha, Qatar.... ACP countries reject restricting to a fixed list the diseases covered by the new regime, or to restrict its coverage to national emergencies and other circumstances of extreme urgency...."
WTO Head Eyes Speedier Trade Talks (June 3, 2003 / Reuters) - speaking before APEC trade ministers, WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdithe spoke of the "need to work on modalities" to get WTO negotiations on track in time for Cancun. Note that 13 of the 27 countries invited to the Egypt mini-ministerial (and probably likewise to the Montreal mini-ministerial in July) are APEC members (there are 21 members of APEC in total)
Least-developed countries thrash out WTO platform (June 1, 2003 / AFP); see also: Least developed countries seek market access ahead of WTO meeting (May 29, 2003 / AFP)
Playing dirty at the WTO (May 2003 / The Ecologist)
WTO chief backs American plan for Mideast free trade zone (May 31, 2003 / Reuters)
Geneva Shops Prepare for G-8 Protests (May 30, 2003 / AP) - As part of the 'warm-up' actions in Geneva prior to the massive G8 protests expected over the next few days, a No Borders march paid a visit to the WTO and broke through the main gates before being repulsed by police... More reports and photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Bush says supports Russian WTO bid, relations good (May 29, 2003 / Reuters)
Trade Rows Loom Over GM Export Treaty (May 28, 2003 / London Times) - The Cartagena Protocol may come into force soon (two more countries needed to ratify the treaty). This will initiate a battle concerning the regulatory capacity of governments to limit GMOs (the Cartagena Protocol adopts the precautionary principle, while the WTO requires that 'significant risk' be 'scientifically' established).
Bush's Confrontational Foreign Policy Invades the World Economic Arena (May 28, 2003 / LA Times)
No WTO Framework For Nonfarm Trade Talks By Sat - Kyodo (May 28, 2003 / DowJones)
Conflit du bois d'oeuvre - L'OMC donne raison au Canada (28 mai, 2003 / Le Devoir); WTO OKs Canadian Logging Practices (May 27, 2003 / AP) - Notice how the official public WTO decision, expected to exonerate the Canada logging industry, will be announced in July, just prior to the date chosen by Corporate Pett for his Montreal WTO mini-ministerial (was Corporate Pett dreaming of potential political capital??...)
Ministerial in Mexico Looks Like a Second Seattle (May 27, 2003 / Bangkok Post) - Walden Bello article
Korean Activists Hold Strategy Workshop to Plan Struggles for the Upcoming WTO Ministerial (May 27, 2003 / Korean People's Action against FTA & WTO)
Interview with Ambassador Eduardo Perez Motta of the Mexican Mission to the World Trade Organization in Geneva (May 26, 2003 / Trade Observatory)
Montreal Area Activists Gear Up For WTO Meetings In July (May 21, 2003 / Montreal Indymedia)
Canada the site of preparatory WTO talks in July (May 18, 2003 / Globe&Mail)
Montréal avant Cancún (18 mai, 2003 / Le Devoir)
WTO Mini-Ministerial in Egypt June 21-22 To Focus on Market Access, Other Issues (March 16, 2003 / International Trade Daily)
U.S. Plans WTO Complaint Over Biotech Food, Crops (May 14, 2003 / Dow Jones) - "The EU's moratorium violates WTO rules," said U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick. "Biotech food helps nourish the world's hungry population, offers tremendous opportunities for better health and nutrition and protects the environment by reducing soil erosion and pesticide use." See also: US Files WTO Suit On Genetically Altered Food (May 13, 2003 / Dow Jones); Canada joins food fight over EU's ban (May 14, 2003 / Globe&Mail); Selon le ministre Pierre Pettigrew - L'Europe a tort de bloquer le commerce des OGM (16 mai, 2003 / Le Devoir); Doha: les ONG dénoncent la position d'Ottawa (15 mai, 2003 / Le Devoir); OGM: le Canada s'allie aux États-Unis contre l'Union européenne (14 mai, 2003 / Le Devoir); Bush Links Europe's Ban on Bio-Crops With Hunger (May 21, 2003 / New York Times) and reader's response: Biotech Food and the Hungry (May 27, 2003 / New York Times)
IMF, World Bank chiefs urge WTO members to meet Doha deadline (May 13, 2003 / AFP)
Canada, U.S. settle dairy export dispute (May 10, 2003 / Globe&Mail)
WTO members consider two mini-ministerials before Cancun meeting (May 9, 2003 / World Trade Online - Inside US Trade) - "Members of the World Trade Organization that met in Paris last week are considering an additional mini-ministerial in July hosted by Canada that would help them prepare the mid-term review of the Doha negotiations in Cancun, according to government officials. The July ministerial could likely focus on the issues that would not be addressed in a June mini-ministerial in Egypt, which is expected to cover industrial market access, special and differential treatment and agricultural market access, they said. Some sources held out the hope that the July meeting, which could take place in Montreal, could already discuss a framework for decisions in the Cancun meeting scheduled for September...."
U.S. still keen on trade talks: Pettigrew (May 7, 2003 / Globe&Mail)
WTO Unfair to Africa - Refugee Commissioner (April 11, 2003 / Daily Trust) "...in Nigeria, the activities of multi-national companies particularly in the Niger Delta region have crippled the whole economic system thereby leading to environmental egradation. 'The land is destroyed; the water is destroyed; no fish; no agriculture and no livelihood', [Dr. I. I. Gabriel ] stressed. He argued that the economy was controlled by outsiders and that the profits were repatriated by the same multi-nationals...."
Doha failure in sight: Vaile (March 5, 2003 / The Age)
WTO Mini-ministerial: Stalemate in Tokyo (Feb. 26, 2003 / Philippine Daily Inquirer) Cogent summary and analysis from Walden Bello.
World Trade Organisation Mini-Ministerial Denounced as 'Illegitimate and Anti-Democratic' (November 14, 2002 / World Development Movement) "Over 150 civil society groups world-wide denounce the 'invitation only' Sydney Mini-Ministerial (14-16 November) of the World Trade Organization (WTO)...." For more on the Sydney mini-ministerial, see: Sydney Indymedia - November Features
