friends of the earth
international
june 12, 2003, geneva / el salvador
wto director’s invitation declined and
‘business advisory body’ blasted
An invitation by World Trade Organisation
(WTO) Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi
was declined by Ricardo Navarro, Salvadorean
Chair of Friends of the Earth International,
in a letter sent today.
Navarro declined to participate in a
proposed ‘Informal NGO Advisory Body’ on
several grounds, including that a proposed
parallel ‘Informal Business Advisory Body’
would further consolidate the unparalleled
access to trade negotiators that the business
community already has. [1]
“This Business Advisory Body process could
worsen rather than improve the WTO’s endemic
problems with secrecy, internally or with
civil society,” said Navarro.
Friends of the Earth International is
appealing to the WTO Director to withdraw his
proposal for the business body. There are
many more steps that Dr Supachai could take.
[2]
Navarro blasted the “unacceptable culture
of secrecy prevalent in the WTO” and added:
“We are deeply concerned by the perpetuation
of the most extraordinarily undemocratic and
non-transparent processes within the
WTO.”
“Civil society views have been ignored by
many governments, and indeed by high-level
members of the WTO Secretariat, including
Supachai’s predecessor, Mr Moore,” Navarro
stated.
Alternative ways forward on trade exist
and Friends of the Earth International has
spent several years discussing them. A copy
of our report "Towards Sustainable Economies:
challenging neoliberal economic
globalisation" is available at :
www.foei.org/publications/trade
Friends of the Earth International is the
world's largest grassroots environmental
federation with 68 national member groups in
68 countries and around one million
members
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
In El Salvador:
Ricardo Navarro, Chair of Friends of the
Earth International
Tel: +503-220 0046 or +503-220 6480
email:
foeichair@navegante.com.sv
In Europe (UK):
Ronnie Hall: +44-7967017281 (mobile)
email:
ronnieh@gn.apc.org
NOTE TO EDITORS :
[1] Corporate lobby groups invited to the
proposed ‘Informal Business Advisory Body’
include the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC), the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Union of
Industrial and Employers’ Confederation of
Europe (UNICE), Nippon Keidanren and the
United States Council for International
Business (USCIB)
[2] The WTO relies on secretive green room
meetings and mini-Ministerials that exclude
both interested governments -generally from
developing countries- and civil society
alike. For damning information about these
internal processes and steps that could be
taken to change this please read ‘Power
Politics in the WTO” by Aileen Kwa of Focus
in the Global South at
www.focusweb.org
A copy of the letter sent today to WTO
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi is
available from
media@foei.org
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