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media advisory
wto cancun september meeting
Dear correspondent / editor,
The forthcoming Fifth Ministerial Meeting
of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
scheduled to take place 10-14 September, in
Cancún, Mexico, will be one of the most
important events of 2003.
Are you covering, or interested in, the
WTO Cancun Ministerial and do you have a
'travelling' e-mail address that is different
from this one? Or do you have the e-mail
address of a colleague or correspondent who
will be covering the ministerial?
If so, and if you or they would like to
receive press releases and updates on
negotiations from Friends of the Earth
International, please hit the 'reply' button
and send us these e-mail addresses.
We will have a team of over 40 campaigners
from members groups worldwide who will be
able to comment on virtually all aspects of
the negotiations, both substantive and
regional. Friends of the Earth International
is one of the world's largest grassroots
environmental federations with 68 national
member groups in as many countries and around
one million individual members.
In Cancún, trade ministers from countries
around the world hope to further their trade
interests in 'tit-for'tat' trade offs. The
winners of this process are likely to be
large transnational corporations scouring the
world in search of new resources and markets.
The losers will be people and communities,
small businesses and the environment.
Key concerns are that:
* The undemocratic WTO cements existing
inequalities that favour rich countries over
poor countries and promotes the interests of
big business at the expense of people and
their environment.
* The secretive WTO is trading away our
environment and the rights of consumers,
farmers and indigenous peoples, along with
democratic policy and decision-making at the
local, national and multilateral level.
* The powerful industrialized countries
within the WTO, as well as multinational
corporations, are pushing for a broad
expansion of the WTO's scope to include even
more areas of our daily lives and government
operations.
Friends of the Earth believes that the WTO
mandate should not be expanded with 'new
issues' such as investment, competition, and
government procurement.
By the end of August, we will send you
mobile phone numbers where you can reach
Friends of the Earth specialists in Cancun,
from as early as 3rd September.
Comprehensive information about the Cancun
Ministerial, including publications and
resources for journalists (including case
studies and photos) will soon be available at
this site:
www.foei.org/cancun
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