Friends of the Earth International
MEDIA ADVISORY
ALL "SEATTLE INGREDIENTS" PRESENT IN
CANCUN
Cancun, Mexico, September 10, 2003 - The
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Cancun talks starting today here look set
to follow the collapse in Seattle, four years
ago, as the same intergovernmental dynamics
that threw the Seattle Ministerial into
disarray fall into place, Friends of the
Earth warned today.
A similar pattern seems to be emerging,
despite predictable last minute attempts by
the European Union (EU) and United States
(US) to portray Cancun as a simple mid-term
stocktaking exercise, to be followed by
number-crunching negotiations to Geneva:
*Hostility between the EU and developing
countries.
The European Union is still trying to force
the "new issues" of investment, competition,
government procurement and trade
facilitation, onto the WTO's agenda, under
the guise of development, despite persistent
and explicit opposition from developing
countries led by India. But the EU is
resisting change to its own agricultural
support system, creating likely tensions over
the validity of initial negotiating documents
on the opening day.
* Hostility between the US and developing
countries.
The US resolutely continues to resist
demands from developing countries to deal
with outstanding "implementation issues" and
with the need for effective special and
differential treatment for developing
countries, as mandated at the last Doha
Ministerial. Despite a recent "deal" on
intellectual property rights (in which the US
reluctantly conceded some rights to
developing countries to produce generic drugs
for sale in certain developing countries)
designed to placate some of the largest
countries such as India and Brazil, most key
developing country concerns remain completely
sidelined.
* Hostility between the EU and US
The US is currently aggressively insisting
on challenging the rights of Europeans to
reject genetically modified products, through
a WTO dispute settlement procedure. If the
WTO deems that the EU is breaking trade
rules, it will allow the US to force Europe
to approve more GM foods and crops - or face
huge financial penalties. The United States
is one of the few countries that did not
ratify the United Nations Biosafety Protocol,
the first treaty that officially seeks to
protect biological diversity from the
potential risks posed by genetically modified
organisms. The Protocol enters into force on
September 11, 2003.
* Civil society rejection of the WTO as a
legitimate multilateral institution As in
Seattle, tens of thousands of demonstrators -
campesinos, fisherfolk, students,
environmentalists and workers - are pouring
into Cancun, from all parts of the world,
united in their opposition to the WTO's
corporate-driven agenda and determined to
forge new, equitable and sustainable
economies.
Friends of the Earth International Trade
Co-ordinator Ronnie Hall said:
"The WTO cannot continue to serve the
interests of the world's big business and
hope that no-one will notice. Developing
countries and civil society representatives
are here in Cancun to call a halt to this
unfair, unsustainable, and illegitimate
process. International trade has to change,
and that change needs to start here in
Cancun."
Contact Friends of the Earth
InternationaL in Cancun:
Alexandra Wandel + 52 -9981 204586
Alberto Villareal +52 -9981 204147
Meenakshi Raman + 52 - 9981 204557
Ronnie Hall +52-9981 204587
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