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friends of the earth international
cancun, mexico, september 12, 2003
negotiations update from the world trade
organisation
A major new block of developing countries
formally rejected yesterday (Thursday) the
so-called ‘new issues’ that many rich nations
wanted on the Cancún agenda, leaving the
World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks hanging
in the balance.
The WTO Doha (1999) Agreement made it
clear that no progress was possible on the
‘new issues’ without ‘explicit consensus’
from all 146 WTO member countries. Yesterday
a new block of 16 developing countries, plus
the ‘Caribbean Community’, and the Least
Developed Countries (LDCs) stated that there
was no way forward for the ‘new issues’
(Investment, competition,government
procurement and trade facilitation) so dear
to Europe’s chief negotiator Pascal Lamy.
agriculture
The hottest topic at the Cancún
negotiations is agriculture. US chief trade
negotiator Robert Zoellick seems determined
to split the newly-formed but growing
alliance of developing countries thanks to
bi-lateral discussions on token concessions
and pressure behind the scenes.
But if the US and European Union (EU)
bully boys of trade succeed in keeping the
‘new issues’ on the negotiating table, they
will deliver a double blow to developing
countries who have everything to lose on
investment and little to gain on
agriculture.
Friends of the Earth International said
there was a clear possibility today that both
‘new issues’ and the EU-US’ self-serving
agricultural deal could be rejected, leading
the talks to collapse.
But the environmental organisation said
this could offer real benefits to developing
countries by slowing down the trade
liberalisation process and creating an
opportunity to introduce multilateral
regulations forcing business to protect the
environment and giving rights to local
communities.
where next?
As of today there is no clear direction on
agriculture, with the main negotiators
working from opposite standpoints. And
on-going bi-lateral negotiations mean all
negotiators are operating in the dark, while
overall confusion reigns.
Friends of the Earth International
Salvadorean Chair Ricardo Navarro said:
“The developing countries have rightly put
the brakes on rapid expansion of the WTO. The
EU and US are making a show of playing the
nice guys but behind closed doors the
pressure is on. If the talks collapse that is
good news: it could open the door to more
sustainable trade.”
Contacts in Cancún:
Alberto Villarreal +52- 9981
204147
Liana Stupples +52-9981 209141
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