MEDIA ADVISORY
The Public Eye on Davos, Berne Declaration,
Friends of the Earth International, Friends
of the Earth Switzerland
DAVOS: TRADE TALKS BEHIND CLOSED
DOORS
Davos (Switzerland), January 23, 2004 -
Today trade envoys of some 20 select members
of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meet
today in Davos to try to kick start
international trade negotiations.
The so-called 'informal meeting' intends
to revive trade talks collapsed in Cancun
(Mexico) in September 2003. Ministers meet at
a closed-door gathering in parallel to the
annual meeting of the 'pro-business' World
Economic Forum.
At the "Public Eye on Davos", the
alternative conference to the World Economic
Forum annual meeting, environmental and
development organisations explain the dangers
of such meetings. They reiterate their
warning that no WTO agreement is still better
than a wrong agreement, especially an
agreement of the kind the industrialised
world hopes to reach. The world's top CEOs
gathering here are expected to lobby trade
negotiators to expand the remit of the WTO in
order to gain access to new markets.
"It is scandalous that trade negotiators
meet with big business and ignore demands of
the small farmers or indigenous peoples
forced off their land by multinational
corporations," said Tony Juniper,
Vice-President of Friends of the Earth
International. "The list of cases where
corporations have influenced trade policy or
called for the use of trade agreements to
block action for the environment or society
is long. The last thing we need now, as the
failures of corporate globalization become
ever clearer, is for corporations to increase
the potential they have to promote their
business aims at the expense of the public
interest, the environment or democracy. But
that is exactly what is happening in Davos
today, and that is why we are here" he
added.
According to the development NGO Berne
Declaration, it is pointless to carry out
trade negotiations if the reasons for the
breakdown of trade talks in Cancun continue
to be ignored by the governments of the
developed world. The Cancun talks collapsed
because the industrialised world insisted on
extending the scope of the WTO to new issues,
in particular to an agreement on
investment.
"Instead of focusing on the so-called 'new
issues' the WTO should make an assessment of
the impacts of the Uruguay Round on
developing countries, before a new trade
agreement is signed. The predominance of
women in small scale agriculture and the
critical role they play must be recognised"
said Phides Mazhawidza from Gender and Trade
Network in Africa (GENTA).
"An investment agreement within the WTO
would grant corporations new rights in the
developing world without establishing new
duties or responsibilities. In this way, the
developing world would be, in practise,
forbidden to follow development-oriented
policies," said Marianne Hochuli of the Berne
Declaration.
For more information contact:
Tony Juniper (Friends of the Earth
International): mobile +44-771 284 32 07
Marianne Hochuli (Berne Declaration):
mobile +41- (0)76-404 21 73
Phides Mazhawidza (International Gender
and Trade Network): mobile +263 1
180 23 68
The public Eye is a a counter-conference,
open to the public, which explores
alternative visions to the corporate driven
agenda at the WEF. It is organised by Berne
Declaration (coordination), Pro Natura
(Friends of the Earth Switzerland), Friends
of the Earth International (FoEI), Asociación
Latinoamericana de Organizaciones de
Promoción,Corporate Europe Observatory, Focus
on the Global South, International South
Group Network, Tebtebba Foundation, Women in
Development Europe, World Development
Movement.
Public Eye on Davos c/o Berne Declaration
(Erklärung von Bern),
P.O. Box 1327, CH-8031 Zurich,
Switzerland
Ph. + 41 (0)1 277 70 06, Fax. + 41 (0)1 277
70 01,
publiceye@evb.ch,
www.evb.ch/publiceye.htm
|
