A dossier on the WTO's fai led 5th Ministerial Conference

Cancun We Won

In 1985, In 1985, EQUATIONS was founded in response to on urge to understand the

impacts of development porticularly in the context of liberolised trade regimes, the opening up of

the notional economy, the beginning of economic reforms and concomitant structural adjustment

programmes.

Campaigning and advocacy on tourism and development issues in Indio, in recent years our

work has focused on women and tourism, the child and tourism, ecosystems, communities and

tourism and globalisation

We envision tourism that is non-exploitative, where decision-making is democratised and

access to and benefits of tourism are equitably distributed . We endorse justice, equity, people

centred and movement centred activism, democratisation and dialogue as our core values.

EQUATIONS, 23/25, 8'hCross, Vignan Nagor, New Tippasandra, 8angalore- 560075, Indio

All comments can forwarded to info@equ;lobletourism.org

EQUATIONS thanks Shalmali Guttal for helpful comments and Anupo Jayokrishnon for the

design. This dossier wos compiled by Benny Kuruvillo, Sonthosh George

ond Sumesh Mongoloserry.

Contents

Preface 1 .0 Context

1.1 What is the WTOI Why should we care? - Associated Press

1.2 Singapore issues and Indian concerns - The Economic Times

1 .3 Time for transformation - George Monbiot

2 .0 Pre lude To Cancun 2.1 Why a derailed WTO ministerial is the best outcome for the south -Walden Bello

2.2 Press release - Indian people's campaign against the WTO

2.3 International civil society submission on the GATS

2.4 Press release Stop the GATS attack ( EQUATIONS and Focus on the Global

South - India Programme)

3.0 News From The Conference 3.1 Press release: WTO and Democracy World Development Movement

3.2 Press release by civil society groups: Why Are We Protesting Today?

3.3 Mock memo on the 13 September draft ministerial text

3.4 Press release: African Parliamentarians denounce WTO manipulation

3.5 Press release: Reject the ministerial text - Indian People's Campaign against WTO

4.0 Agriculture 4.1 Biggest US growers pocket 71 % farm sops - Reuters

4.2 Mr. Lee Kyung Hoe

4.3 Indian farmers demonstrate against WTO

5.0 Offic ia l Documents 5.1 Letter to Pierre Pettigrew from Arun Jaitely and Rafidah Aziz

5.2 India's statement at the Heads of Delegation meeting

5.3 The Cancun Ministerial Statement 14 September 2003

6 .0 Post Col lapse 6.1 Via Campesina: We won in Cancun! The WTO was derailed

6.2 Indian people's campaign against WTO

6.3 Statement from the group of Caribbean countries

6.4 Africans in the forefront in Cancun

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6.5 Cancun Conclave: A new sunrise for developing countries - Benny Kuruvilla 62

6.6 Crisis of the WTO System: Chance for the Underprivileged and Marginalised IGTN 66

6.7 Cancun failure: Africa showed the way -Devinder Sharma

6.8 A turning point world trade -John Cavanagh

6.9 The meaning of Cancun - S.P.Shukla

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Preface The World Trade O rgan isation (WTO) the successor to the General

Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) came i nto existence in January 1 995 after the U ruguay round of the GATT. S ince its establ ishmentl permanent negotiations have been carried w ith a series of Ministerial meetings starting with S i ngapore ( 1 996L Geneva ( 1 998) 1 Seattle ( 1 999) and Doha (200 1 ) sett ing the broad agenda for the process at its Geneva headquarters. This powerfu l g lobal trade body sets up legally enforceable commercial rules for i nternational trade i n Goods, Agriculture, Inte l lectual property and Services l i ke healthl water and education .

The Fifth Min i sterial of WTO held i n the Mexican tourist resort of Cancun was the second Min isterial Meet ing to d ramatical ly col lapse

l once again bring ing i nto rel ief its deep institutional cris is . The documents in th is dossier are meant to g ive an i nsight i nto the actual negotiations by producing key statements by civi l society groups and Trade m i nisters from developing countries.

In an instructive overview, Walden Be l lo pred icts the col lapse of the impending Cancun m in isterial , and questions the key tenet that IItrade l iberal i sation promoted prosperity'l by citing a World Bank study from the late 1 990s by M. Lundberg and L. Squ ire . The study noted that the "poor are far more vu lnerable to sh i fts i n relative international prices and this vu lnerabi l ity is mag n ified by the countryls openness to trade. At least i n the short term

l g lobal isation appears to i ncrease both

poverty and i nequal ity'l. Swimm ing against the general current of civi l society analyses on the WTO, George Monbiot argues that the institutional ized subversion of the WTO's procedu res by the North and

its corporate fel low travelers should be countered not by an "overthrow" of the WTO but by us ing the forum to "overthrow the power of the rich", and by institutiona l izi ng meaningfu l safeguards that a l low only the "nice guys to survive" in world trade.

Against th is backdrop, the I nd ian People's Campaign Agai nst the WTO (IPCAWTO) pre-Ca ncun statement on WTO and GATS h igh l ights the key issues i nvolved

• The WTO perspectives on agriculture are "total l y detrimental to the interests of the vast majority of our people consist ing of sma l l and marg inal peasants, the agricu ltu ra l workers . . .

• The need to resist the commodification of education, health, water.

• The need to u rgently engage the developed countries on the "da ngerous impl ications of the TRIPS ag reement with respect to

. bio-diversity, p iracy of traditional knowledge a nd growing monopoly of multinationa l (agro-chemical corporations) on seeds

• As contrasted to the Ind ian Commerce's Ministry 's position that the exist ing level of I nd ian tariffs provided adequate "comfort" and needed to be maintai ned, the IPCAWTO insisted on the "right to use quantitative restrictions" since EU/US agricu ltural subsidies not only were substantia l but were growing

I l lustrating the skewed nature of the process despite the rhetoric a bout the "democratic" nature of the WTO, civi l society g roups noted that the "two richest delegations the EU and the US (representing 1 0% of the world) with a combined strength of 863 was three times the total of 235 for the 4 biggest Southern countries (5 1 %) .

Southern countries were res istant to the dec lared i ntention of developed countries to make Cancun the site for negotiations on the so-ca l led "Singapore" issues . These concerns of developing countries were a rticu lated i n a note co-authored by the Malaysian a nd I nd ian Commerce Ministers, which pOi nted out the complexity of these issues, the resource constraints, and the need for substantia l a na lysis before any commitments cou ld be made. More over, serious doubts were raised a bout the lack of d iscussion on the Doha development agenda, the negotiation procedu res a nd the inc lusion of the S ingapore issues without prior d iscussions. Southern delegations rejected the meeting's final text, effectively dera i l i ng the ministeria l .

The crucia l role of civi l society g roups, for prov id i ng critica l inputs through lobbying, i nforming a nd mobi l iz ing, was publicly recognized by Brazi l's foreign minister a nd other Southern delegates. Via

Campesina, a g lobal coa l it ion of fa rmer's movements d isagreed with the G-22's proposal s about agricu ltu ra l l ibera l ization and i ncreas ing market access, which serve to intensify the exclusion a nd poverty for mil l ions in the South. Via Campes ina specifica l ly criticised d i rect payments a nd income support for agro- industry in the North that fac i litate dumping of agricultu ra l commod ities on the i nternationa l market and ca l led for measures to p rotect Southern agricultu re from low-priced imports.

Cancun's progressive resu lt h igh l ighted the crucia l role of campaign ing . Thanks to intense lobbying by civi l society groups both i n the north a nd the south developing countries took similar positions on severa l issues . Cancun is a landmark and holds va l uable lessons for civi l society groups. We hope this dossier captures the importance of i ncorporating trade issues onto the agenda of g roups working on themes that may seem removed from the WTO

The EQUATIONS team November 2003.

1.0 Context

1 . 1 What I s The WTO, Why Should We Care? By The Associated Press

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CANCU N, Mexico (AP) The 1 46 governments that belong to the World Trade Organisation wil l hold a five-day meeting starting Wednesday in Cancun to thrash out many problems surrou nd ing the latest "round" of trade l i bera l ization tal ks .

Here, i n question-and-answer form, is a look at the WTO and how it affects bus inesses a nd i nd ividua ls worldwide.

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Q: When a nd how did the WTO come i nta being? A: The WTO was created as part of the treaty on the U ruguay Rou nd of trade l i bera l ization negotiations. The organization came i nto existence on Jan. 1 , 1 995, to replace the Genera l Agreement on Tariffs a nd Trade. It employs 550 people at its headquarters, on the shores of Lake Geneva . Un l i ke its predecessor, the WTO has lega l force a nd its agreements a nd rules a re b ind ing on a l l its members.

Q: What does it do? A: It sets out the legal ru les surround ing i nternationa l commerce, through a series of treaties and agreements negotiated by its members. These treaties a re bui l t upon the principle that trade should be as uninh ib ited as poss ib le and that a country should treat al l its trad ing partners equal ly and avoid d iscrim inating between domestic and foreign products, services or people. To ensure th is, the WTO has a lega l system for sett l ing d isputes between members a nd a

surve i l lance mechan ism to look at trade pol icies i n each country. It a lso i s responsib le for the occasional "rounds" of negotiations that lead to treaties to open up trade. The current round was launched i n November 2001 a nd i s supposed to f inish b y the end of next year, though the last round overran by several yea rs .

Q: The phrase "free trade" i s widely used and often criticized. What does it actua l ly mean?

A: I n economics, i t i s t he princip le that the g lobal economy benefits if trade is d ictated only by market forces . Countries specia l ize in the products that they can produce most cheaply and import those that can be p roduced mare efficiently e lsewhere.

Barriers to free trade, l i ke import tariffs, quotas, government subsidies and compl icated customs procedu res adversely affect economic g rowth. A recent study by the University of Michigan found that cutt ing g lobal trade barriers by a th i rd wou ld boost the world economy by $ 6 1 3 b i l l ion - the equ ivalent of adding a country the s ize of Canada to the world .

Q: That sounds good . Why not iust do it? A: Because free trade creates losers as wel l as winners and can widen the gaps between rich and poor. "For some parts of the 'world, trade has been proved to have very positive effects i n the reduction of income inequal ity, but i n other a reas, l i ke Latin America, we have seen iust the opposite ," said WTO D i rector-General Supachai Panitchpakd i .

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Many i ndustries on ly survive i n certai n countries because of subsid ies or because fore ign products a re kept out. Governments can't aHord pol itica l ly to agree to a move that could destroy one of the i r i ndustries, l i ke steel i n the Un ited States or sugar i n the Eu ropean U nion. I n add it ion, free trade may confl ict with governments' soc ia l o r environmental pol icies.

For th is reason, the WTO recogn izes that countries wi l l need t ime to adapt a nd restructure as barriers fa l l , so cuts a re made g radua l ly and with the agreement of a l l members . Because decisions made at the WTO can have a massive eHect on ind iv idua l countries, a l l decisions a re taken by consensus.

Q: Why a re so many g roups a nd i nd ividua ls opposed to the WTO? A : Many WTO opponents see the organ ization as putt ing the i nterests of business -espec ia l ly b ig mu ltinationa ls - above those of workers, the envi ronment and poor nations. Some g roups, especia l ly in the Un ited States, a re concerned that the b ind ing rules of the WTC) take away a country's national sovereignty.

Even those who accept the pri nciple of the WTO a re concerned that the current system means that power l ies with the big traders, especia l ly the Un ited States and the European Un ion, who can easi ly put p ressure on smal ler nations to go a long with things that may not be in the i r i nterest. They a l so see the WTO - which a lways meets i n private - as lacking transparency.

Smal l a nd poor countries a lso compla in that they cannot keep u p with the goings-on of the organisation, even though i t i s vita l l y i mportant to them . Meetings have prol iferated i n recent years, and sometimes severa l take place s imu ltaneously. More than 30 WTO members cannot aHord to maintai n any staH at a l l i n Geneva and many others have only one or two officials to cover a l l the issues.

1 .2 Singapore I ssues And Indian Concerns Economic Times 1 5 September 2003, Bongalore

What a re the 'Singapore issues'? The term refers to a reas of trade and investment; trade a nd

competition pol icy; trade faci l itation; and tra nsparency i n government procu rement, i n relation to the World Trade Organization (WTO) . These fou r issues have col lectively come to be known as the S ingapore issues i n the context of the WTO because it was at the fi rst m in i steria l conference of the WTO i n S ingapore in 1 996 that they were fi rst b rought u p as possib le a reas on which the m ulti lateral body could i n itiate negotiations.

What i s the rationale beh i nd d iscuss ing these issues as part of trad ing negotiations?

Many nations that a re members of the WTO felt that for i nternational trade to be genu inely free and fai r. These i ssues wou ld need to be incorporated . They pointed out, for i nstance, that of the total g lobal trade in good and services of $6 . 1 tri l l ion in 1 995, as m uch as one-thi rd was trade withi n com pa nies -between subsid iaries of the same MNC or between a subsidia ry and its headquarters. Clearly, therefore, there is a considerab le l i nk between trade a nd i nvestment. Yet, as th ings stand, wh i le there a re as many as 2 , 1 00 (UNCTAD est imate) b i latera l i nvestment treaties, there is no un i lateral agreement on how to deal with foreign d i rect i nvestment.

S im i larly, competition pol icy would a lso have an impact on the vol ume of trade. One of the things a n internationa l agreement on competition pol icy would need to look at is carte ls i n various i ndustries, wh ich a re estimated to cost d eveloping countries b i l l ions of dol lars a yea r due to overpric ing . As for government procurement to take just one exa m ple of how it affects trade, if a government offers an incentive for the level o f i ndegenisation i n procuring a good that clearly would affect trade.

Here aga i n, there is a 'plur i laterta l ' agreement, i nvolving 28 countries, but the attem pt is to reach an agreement between a l l 1 46 WTO member countries. Trade faci l i tation refers essentia l ly to s impl i fy ing procedura l hassles i n i nternational trade, i n terms of the documentation required by customs departments and so on . Obviously, th i s too has a n impact on trade.

Where do various countries stand on the S ingapore issues? There is by-and- Iarge a d ivide between the developed and the developing countries on whether these issues ought to be part of the

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1 .3 Opinion

WTO's negotiating mandate at th is point or not, a nd a lso on the contou rs that such negotiations should take, if at a l l they a re held . The EU, Japa n and South Korea were the ones that fi rst pushed for the S ingapore issues in 1 996 and to varying degrees most of the developed world has gone along with them. I nd ia and other developing countries, on the other hand, a re cautious a bout taking up these issues for negotiations.

What is India's obiection to the S ingapore issues? On issues l i ke i nvestment and competition pol icy, I nd ia feels that

hav i ng a multi latera l agreement would be a serious imp ingement on the sovere ign rights of countries. To an extent of course, th is i s i nherent i n any mu lt i lateral treaty, but i nvestment is seen as an a rea i n which ced ing sovere ign rig hts wou ld leave governments, particu larly develop i ng country governments, with too l ittle room for manoeuvre i n d i rect ing i nvestments i nto a reas of national priority. These a re concerns that many other develop ing countries a l so share . In addition on the specific issue of competition pol icy as appl icable to 'hardcore cartels' , India has pointed out that there is no clarity on whether these would i ncl ude export cartels . The Organisation of Petro leum Exporting Countries (OPEC) i s perhaps the best-known example of a n export cartel that rigs prices by fixing production cei l i ngs . On the issue of tra nsparency i n government procurement, the I nd ian pos ition is that wh i le the princip le i s entirely acceptable, there cannot be a u n iversa l determ ination of what constitutes tra nsparent procedures. On trade faci l itation I nd ia has a rgued that once again wh i le the idea unexceptionable, developing countries may not have the resou rces- by way of technology or otherwise to bri ng their procedures in l i n e with those in the developed world over the short-to medium-term.

Time For Transformation

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Feeble and corrupted, the WTO is now i neffective. It needs transformation to a l low the poor of the world to overthrow the power of the rich . George Monbiot, Monday Septem ber 8 , 2003, The Guard ian

The World Trade Organisation is a corrupted, co-opted, captu red i nstitution, but a l l those who care a bout g lobal iustice should be fighting for its surviva l . Every t ime we shout that the WTO has got to

go, we jo in hands with George Bush: he wants to destroy it because it impedes h is p lans for d i rect US control of other nations' economies.

In pri nciple, the poor members of the WTO can a nd should outvote the rich ones. I n practice, its democratic structure has been bypassed by the notorious "g reen room" meeti ng� organised by the rich nations, by corporate lobbying and by the secret and unaccountable committees of the corporate lawyers i t uses to resolve trade d isputes.

Al l this m ust change, but it is now clear to me that to ca l l for its destruction is l i ke ca l l i ng for the d issolution of a corrupt par l iament i n favour of the monarchy: i t i s to choose un i latera l ist over mult i latera l i sm. Our key task is not to overthrow the WTO, but to assist the poor nations to use it to overthrow the power of the rich .

I n theory, the rules the WTO enforces a re supposed to prevent protectionism by the rich nations whi le permitt ing a degree of protectionism by the poor ones. The principles beh i nd this a re sou nd . Most o f the countries that a re rich today developed with the he lp of "infant i ndustry protection": defend ing new i ndustries from foreign competition u nti l they a re b ig enough to com pete on equal terms. The pol icy makes sense. Estab l ished Industries have cap ita l , experience and econom ies of sca le on thei r side; i nfant i ndustries in poor nations do not. Developing in d i rect competition with big business overseas is l i ke learn ing to swim in a torrent: you wi l l be swept away and drowned long before you acqu i re the necessary expertise. Rich countries, by contrast, have no need for protectionism, but by defending their markets aga inst imports from poor nations, they prevent the transfer of wea lth.

I n practice, because of the way in which the rich members of the organisation have been a ble to subvert its p rocesses a nd bu l ly the poor ones, the WTO does precisel y the opposite . The "spec ia l and d ifferential treatment" it offers the poor nations is both utterly feeble and routinely b locked by the IMF a nd the World Bank, which i nsist that their c l ients drop a l l their protections in order to be e l ig ib le for loans. The "technology transfer" the WTO has long p romised the poor has never mate ria l ised . The rich nations, by contrast, a re permitted to protect the i r farmers, their texti le p roducers and their steel m i l lers, a nd to g rant thei r com pan ies ever g reater rights over other people's inte l lectua l property.

I nstead we need a clea r and non-negotiab le s l id ing sca le of trade privi leges. The very poorest nations should be permitted, if they wish, to fu l ly protect the i r i nfant i ndustries, j ust as Brita in did du ring the early days of the I ndustria l revo lution or the US between 1 789 a nd 1 9 1 3.

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As they become richer, they would be forced to g radua l ly d rop those protections. The very poorest countries should a lso be a l lowed free use of rich countries' i ntel lectual property, for trade with i n thei r own borders and with other poor nations.

These measures, of cou rse, a re fa i r on ly i n so much as they permit the development of economies and the transfer of wea lth between nations. They do not dea l with the other g reat source of i njustice: the corporations' ab i l ity to force nations i nto destructive competition, abandon ing the laws defending workers and the environment i n order to attract thei r custom. Tru ly fa i r trade requires a further set of measures : corporations should not be a l lowed to trade between nations unti l they can show that they a re meeting the standards set by the I nternational Labour O rgan isation a nd the UN.

The WTO would therefore become a l icensing a uthority, a bit l i ke the hea lth and safety executive i n Brita i n . L ike those part ici pating i n volu ntary fa i r trade today, a l l c�rporations engaged i n I nternational trade wou ld be ob l iged to employ monitoring companies, which wou ld ensure ru les were respected and report beck to the WTO. Any corporation employing s laves or using letha l machinery, bann ing un ions or t ipp ing toxic waste i nto rivers wou ld be forbidden from trad ing international ly. If we were to add the provision that a l l companies should pay the fu l l env i ronmental cost of the resources they use, we would possess a com plete mechan ism for ensuring only the n ice guys survive.

None of this would be possible without a world trade organ isation. I n help ing the poor majority to pursue this agenda, we can transform the WTO from a body that enforces unfa i rness into one that makes economic justice the princi ple by which the world is run . George Monbiot is Ihe oulhor of The Age o f Consent: a manifesto for a new world order www monbiot com

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2.0 Prelude To Cancun

2.1 Why A Derailed WTO Ministerial Is The Best Outcome For The South - Walden Bello I nter Press Service, 4 September 2003

BANGKOK, SEPT ( IPS) - With the fifth m in isteria l of the World Trade Organ isation (WTO) fast approaching, the organ isation that was ha i led at its found ing i n 1 995 as the crowni ng point of g lobal economic governance is i n g rid lock.

Despite a n obvious effort to put a positive spin to negotiations over the last two years, the recently issued draft m in isteria l declaration evi nces l ittle consensus on a l l the burn ing issues d iv id ing WTO members.

Stalemated Talks

WTO Director General Supachai Pan itchpa kd i trumpeted a "successful" last m inute

compromise on the contentious issue of the relationsh ip of trade­related i ntellectual p roperty rights

. (TRIPs) and pub l ic hea lth i n the manufacture a nd i mport of vital d rugs. Many a na lysts contend, however, thot the compromise leans more toward protecting the patent rights of Northern pharmaceutical com pan ies tha n p romoting access to l ife-saving o r l ife-prolonging med icine for m i l lions of people i n the South suffering from H IV-AIDS a nd other epidemics. It is very doubtfu l that it can unblock negotiations in the other a reas, where North-South d ifferences as wel l as i nternecine d isputes a mong the rich countries, a re more sol id ly entrenched.

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Prior to the compromise, the ta l ks had been sta lemated by the US' refusa l to budge from its position that loosen i ng of patent rights s hould be l im ited only to H IV-AIDS, ma laria, and tuberculosis drugs, defy ing the decla ration of the Fourth WTO Min isteria l i n Doha, 200 1 , which clea rly p laced public hea lth issues a bove corporate i ntel lectua l property rights .

A last-m i nute attempt by the European U nion and the U n ited States to set up a negotiating framework to revive the sta l l ed ta l ks on agricultura l l i bera l isation a ppears to have backfired, as developing countries bitterly critic ised the two trad ing superpowers for regressi ng to thei r behaviour duri ng the last years of the U ruguay Round ( 1 986-94) , craft i ng a backroom dea l with no partic ipation from the 1 44 other member countries.

Brazi l , I nd ia, and China -the powerhouses of the developing world- immediately responded with a paper tel l i ng the Europeans and Americans to quit beatin g a round the bush and radica l ly cut the h igh level s of subsid isation responsib le for the dumping of cheap g ra i n a nd meat on world markets that i s putting hundreds of thousands of deve loping country farmers out of bus iness.

There has been no movement whatsoever on negotiations to ring under WTO jurisd ict ion the

so-ca l led "trade-related" i ssues of i nvestment, competition pol icy; tra nsparency i n government procurement, and trade fac i l itation, which Brussels and Wash ington have rega rded as the centerpiece of the Doha Declaration . I ndeed, there is fundamenta l d isag reement over whether or not there is a mandate to even begi n negotiations. The developing countries assert that the 1/ exp l icit consensus", of each member country must be obta i ned to l aunch negotiations. The European U n ion (EU) and other developed countries, on the other hand, c la im that there is a l ready agreement to negotiate and it is only the "modal ities" of the .

negotiations that need to be i roned out.

The Civil Society Factor

Some observers say that the three key i ngredients of the "Seattle scenario" a re emerg ing, a l lud ing to the "formula" that produced the famous col lapse of the Th i rd M inisteria l in Seatt le i n December 1 999: The EU-US stalemate i n agriculture i s aga i n at centre­stage; Developing countries a re more resen tful than ever; Civ i l society is on the move.

The civi l society factor must not be underestimated . The numbers a re not c lear, but at

least 1 5,000 people from a l l over the world may show u p in Cancun. Th is wou ld be the equivalent of five percent of Cancun's popu lation of 300,000

a critica l mass if any. At the moment, up to 1 0,000 peasants led by the Mexican farmers' group UNORCA and the g lobal peasant federation Via Campesina a re p lann ing to march to the Convention Centre located in the restricted section of the hotel zone to del iver a message to the m inister ial assembly demanding that the WTO "get out of agricu lture" . Another coal it ion ca l led "Espacio Mexicano" is sett ing up a week­long " Forum of the People" that wil l cl imax on Septembe r 1 3 with a march coordinated with demonstrations in scores of other cities throughout the world on the theme '�ga inst Global isation and War".

Perhaps the most s ignificant development is the decision of the Zapatistas, the a rmed insu rrectionary force based i n indigenous and peasant commun ities i n the forests and h igh lands of C hiapas i n southern Mexico, to throw their weight beh ind the protests. II If the Zapatistas join the mobi l isation against the WTO, then because of their g reat prestige throughout Mexico, the whole situation wi l l be transformed/' says Hector de la Cueva, one o f the coordi nators of Espado Mexicano. With. thousands of Mexicans i nspired to

go to Cancun and anti -WTO actions th roughout Mexico, the Zapatista decision could transform what is sti l l seen by most Mexicans as a fore ign gathering i n a "Yankee tourist colony" in to a massive national protest.

Mexican authorities a re ag itated, despite efforts by leaders of the i nternational movement against corporate-driven g lobal isation to assure them that the ir demonstrations and meetings wi l l be nonviolent. It turns out, i n fact, that the federa l government has been compi l i ng an "enemies' l ist" o f people to closely monitor du ri ng the m inisteria l . Leaked to the press i n m id-August, the government memo conta i ns a bout 60 names, among them Ecuadorian I nd ian leader B lanca Cha ncoso, Ind ian physicist Vandana Shiva, and American agro­ecologist Peter Rosset, who were designated a s "u l tras."

Institutional Crisis

The current trava i l s of the WTO are a conti nuation of the institutional crisis that f i rst broke in Seattle i n December 1 999, triggered by resistance of civi l society groups to the WTO's drive to subord inate critica l d imensions of socia l l ife to corporate trade, by developing countries' resentment of a few developed countries imposing a doctri na i re g lobal l i bera l isation progra mme i n imica l to thei r i nterests, a nd by the widespread reputiation of an u ndemocratic decision-making structure .

The depth of the 'reform needed was underl ined by then UK Secretary of State Stephen Byers a few days after the Seattle col l apse : "The.WTO wi l l not be a ble to continue i n its present form. There has to be fundamenta l a nd radical change in order for it to meet the needs a nd aspirations of a l l 1 34 of its members ."

No reforms fo l lowed in the wake of Seatt le, and only US-EU strong­a rming of the developing countries i n the context of the 9- 1 1 events produced a dec laration mandating a l imited set of negotiations to further trade l i bera l isation during the Fou rth Mini steria l in Doha, Qatar, in November 200 1 . But the so-ca l led 'Doha Round" qU ickly degenerated into a sta lemate .

Crisis of Globalization

The WTO's institutiona l cris i s, however, is itself a reflection of a n even deeper, more comprehensive crisis -that o f the g loba l ist project of accelerated integration of production and markets. One key trigger of this cris is was the Asian f inancial cr is is of 1 997, which brought home the lesson that the capita l account l i beral isation that was a centerpiece of the g lobal ist ideology could be profound ly destabi l is ing, result ing in such tragedies as that of I ndonesia , where 22 m i l l ion people fel l below the poverty l i ne in the space of a few weeks.

18

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This d iscred it ing of the presumed benefits of unfettered capita l mobil ity cou ld not but provoke a wide-ra nging exam ination of the claims of another key tenet of the g loba l ist pro ject: that trade l ibera l isation promoted prosperity. The results of many invest igations of this assumptioh carried out in the late 1 990s were perhaps best summed up by World Bank researchers Matthias Lundberg a nd Lynn Squ i re : 'The poor a re fa r more vu lnera ble to sh ifts in relative i nternationa l prices, and this vu lnerabi l ity is magn ified by the country's openness to trade. At least in the short term, g loba l isation appears to increase both poverty a nd inequa l ity."

As the doctrine a nd institutions of cap ita l mobi l ity and trade l ibera l isation were i ncreas ing ly eroded by a cris is of leg itimacy, the g loba l i st project was further u ndermined by another momentous development: the stock market col lapse of March 2000, which inaugurated an era of g lobal recession and deflation brought about by the excesses of speculative cap ital as wel l as g lobal overproduction. Faced by an era of scarcity, r is ing joblessness, and slow growth, economic elites i n both Europe a nd the US have increas ing ly turned

20

away from p romoting the project of a n i ntegroted g lobal economy, with obstacles to capita l a nd trade flows reduced to a m in imum that served the un iversa l i nterests of the g lobal corporate class, and moved towards pol icies of protecting the interests of national or reg ional cap ita l ist e l ites.

The EU-US confl icts over agriculture, steel tariffs, pharmaceutica l s, GMO's, a i rcraft subsid ies a nd Microsoft's practices i n Europe reflect this ris ing protectionism in both Brussels a nd Washington . These economic confl icts have been exacerbated by the d ivergent pol itica l paths on I raq and the Middle East taken by the US and the cornerstone countries of the EU - - Germany a nd France- which have un raveled the "Atlantic Al l iance" that won the Cold War aga inst the Soviet Un ion.

Bush's un i latera l i st economics, i n particula r, marks a turn ing away from the condomin ium of g lobal capita l that underpinned the mu lt i lateral institutions -the IMF, World Bank, and WTO-during the C l inton era . It is a response to the crisis of the g lobal ist project that, with its b razen defense of US corporate capital exempl ified in its stand on TRIPs and publ ic health, is l i ke ly to deepen that crisis a nd the crisis of the multi latera l institutions that were used to advance the g lobal isation agenda. For with the EU and the US at loggerheads on a whole range of issues, it has become that much more d ifficu lt for both to mount a coord i nated strategy to spl it and i ntim idate developing countries at the WTO on matters where the two capital ist centres share a common i nterest, l i ke pushing through a WTO-enforced investment agreement, which the developing counties have stubbornly opposed.

False Choices

With the WTO framework fai l i ng, both the EU and the US have turned to b i lateral a nd mu lt i latera l trade agreements as a vehicle for l i bera l isation that wou ld serve thei r particular i nterests. The race i s on, and the US appears to be a head. Washington recently announced free trade ag reements (HA) with Ch i le and S ingapore, a nd thi s coming October i t wi l l unvei l a n HA with Tha i land at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in that country. Moreover, over the last two years, the Bush administration has devoted for more effort to concluding the Free Trade of the Ameri cas (FTM) than to jump­starting the WTO.

Developing countries a re just as wary of FTA's as of they a re of the WTO, recogn is ing that they a re just as m uch guided by the hegemonic i nterests of the stronger partners.

I

To those who argue that the WTO is better for developing country interests than FlAs because it has institutiona l ised rules a nd procedu res that constra i n the more powerful countries, developing country a na lysts such as Ai leen Kwa, Geneva representative of Focus on the Global South and a uthor of the expose "Beh ind the Scenes at the WTO' , point to rich country governments' systematic i nt imidation and coercion of Southern countries i n the last few years i n an attempt to pry open their markets, h id i ng behind a thick vei l of non-tra nspa rency.

I ndeed, developing countries must cease a l lowing themselves to be boxed i nto such false choices and start work ing on real a lternative arrangements, such as creating regiona l economic b locs or restructuring economic exist ing ones such as Mercosur and ASEAN to serve as effective eng ines of coord inated econ�m ic progress v ia pol icies that effectively subord i nate trade to development.

Failure is Success

One cannot d iscount that despite their deepen ing d ifferences, the US and the EU may sti l l pul l together to coerce developing countries i nto approving new i n itiatives in trade a nd trade-re lated l ibera l isation in Cancun

However, the i ncreas ingly l i ke ly scenario is a m i n isteria l that w i l l produce no agreements for s ign ificant new l i bera l isat ion a nd essentia l ly reproduce the sta lemate i n Geneva. For developing countries constantly u nder s iege to open the ir m arkets or cede control of a reas thus for the preserve of nationa l pol icy-mak ing -li ke i nvestment and competition- to the Wash ington a nd B russels­dominated WTO, a fai led, stalemated m inisterial is the best outcome. It g ives them the b reath ing space to organ ise and coord inate thei r defense and a l lows them a n d g lobal c iv i l society the opportun ity to mount the reversal of corporate-driven global isation that even the free-trade mouthpiece Economist sees as a very rea l threat to the future of capital ism because of the Jlexcesses" of g loba l capita l .

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2. 2 WTO Virodhi Bharatiya Jan Abhiyan ( Indian People's Campaign against WTO) Moiling Addreu; 3260, Sector 'D', Voson! Kuni, New Delhi 110 030, INDIA

Tel; 0091 . 11 ·6897089,6561 868; Emoil;spshuklo@id.elh.nel;rfsle@ndl.vsnl:nel.in

22

Press Release 27th August 2003

A delegation of WTO Wirodh i Bharatiya Jan Abhiyan ( Indian People's Campaign against WTO) consisting of Sh ri v,P. Singh, Shri H . D. Devegowda, Sh ri I . K. Gujra l , Aboni Roy (RSP ) , Shri Debabrata Biswas (Al l I nd ia Forward B lockL Shri M.K. Pandhe (CITU) , Shri AK. Anjan (CP I ) , Ms. Sri lata Swaminathan, (CP I-ML) , Sh ri Sh ri S .P. Sh ukla (Caordinator, I PCAWTO) , Dr. Va-dana Sh iva (RFSTE), Ms Amaiiit Kaur (AITUC) and Sh ri Ashok Rao (NCOA) met with the Prime Minister i n his office at 5:30 pm on 26th August 2003. The Com merce Minister was present at the meeting .

The delegation stressed the fol lowing five-point charter o f demands formu lated by the Abhiyan :

• Government m ust not a l low the issues of investment; competition policy; government procurement; and trade facilitation to be negotiated in WTO.

• Government must not put on offer the sectors such as water, energy, hea lth and education in the on-going negotiations on services.

• An unprecedented agra rian distress is being experienced in the country. Anti- peasant, anti people policies of Government have engendered the cris is . Exposure of I ndian agricultu re to the notoriously volatile and high ly distorted g lobal agricu lture market is aggravating the crisis. The WTO perspective on agriculture and the so-ca l led i nternationa l discipline that i s evolving there on agriculture, a re tata l ly detrimenta l to the interest of the vast majority of our people consisting of sma l l and marginal peasants, the agricu ltura l workers, the ru ra l a nd u rban poor. I n the circumstances, we i nsist that the Government recognize the crisi s situation in agricu lture, put an end to their a nti­people pol icies, and, in pa rticu lar, firmly reclaim and assert our unqual i fied rig ht to impose quantitative restrictions on imports to promote the development of our agricu lture and to safeguard the livelihood of seventy percent of our population.

• Since the issues now being brought up in WTO negotiations fa l l with in the Concu rrent list of our Constitution, there should be ful l consultation with the State Governments and no substa ntive move should be made without such consu ltation .

• Above a ll, the fundamenta l questions such as employment prospects, food secu rity, the safeguarding of the livel ihood of the overwhelming majority of our people, the provision of basic services and infrastructure and the federa I spi rit of ou r po lity a re involved, there can be no question of such negotiations being ca rried on without taking Parliament into confidence and without its exp licit approva l of the Government stand. I f that necessitates Constitutiona l amendment, it must be brought about.

In the course of discuss ions that fol lowed, Shri VP. Singh welcomed the formation of the Group of seventeen developing countries including India, China, Brazi l , Mexico, South Africa , Argentina, Tha i la nd and others in the context of the negotiations on agricu lture . It was however pointed that the joint paper submitted by the Group needs strengthening as rega rds the right to use quantitative restrictions, which is of vita l importance in our context. It was a lso suggested that the emerg ing sol ida rity of developing countries needs to be

strengthened not only on the issue of agricu lture but across the board, particu larly in rega rd to the opposition to the so-ca l l ed Singa pore issues .

It was a lso stressed that the Government should undertake a comprehensive review of how the operation of WTO over the last eight years a nd the implementation of economic reforms over the last decade have adversely affected our industry, the working c lasses, our agriculture and the majority of our people. The political and constitutional imp lications of the WTO negotiations in the context of i ssues like ag riculture, education , health, energy were pointed out and the Prime .

Minister was urged to convene a conference of State Agriculture Ministers forthwith before formulating the government stand on agriculture for the Cancun WTO meeting. The de legation stressed that the p rocess of commodification of education, hea lth, water must be resisted. The serious implications of the g rowing corporate monopoly on seeds were stressed. I n this context the attention of PM was d rawn to the havoc caused by the Monsanto hybrid ma ize seeds in Bihar. I t was pOinted out how the developed countries have been a l lowed to side-step the debate on the dangerous impl ications of TRIPS agreement in respect of b io-diversity, piracy of traditiona l knowledge and g rowing monopoly of multinationa ls on seeds. The need to insist

" on a

thorough-going review of TRIPS which was provided for in the Doha declaration was stressed.

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The Commerce Minister who responded at PM's i nstance said that there was g rowing dissatisfaction a mong developing countries a bout the EU-US stand on agriculture. He however felt that the present level of tariff in agriculture products provided adequate" comfort" and the effort of government would be to maintain that level . As regards the Singapore issues he said that concerns about the i mplications of the multi latera l disciplines i n these a reas were being felt widely in developing world and hoped to continue the stance of opposition/questioning in regards to these issues at d ifferent levels. He a lso· felt that b roadly a nationa l consensus seems to be emerg ing on the issues facing the country in the context of the forthcoming WTO meeting at Cancun .

Shri VP. S ingh reiterated that the tariffs constituted a very weak a nd ineffective instrument for safeguarding our agriculture as the negotiations would inevitably lead to their being reduced to low l evels. On the other hand, the degree of subsid ization of agriculture in EU and US was not only enormous but also continued to g row under one name or the other. I n the circumstances, it was crucia l to reclaim a nd assert the right to impose quantitative restrictions on agriculture p roducts to safeguard the l ivelihood of our people.

"-­

�------------------------------------------------------------------------�-

2.3 Call To Cancun: Halt T he GATS Negotiations. Take Essential Services, Such As Water, Out Of The WTO.

Civil Society Submission To The World Trade Organisation's (WTO) 5th Ministerial Conference In Cancun, 1 0-1 4 September 2003

As trade m in isters from the WTO's 146 member cou ntries meet i n Cancun, we ca l l on them to ha lt discussions on the Genera l Agreement on Trade i n Services (GATS) a nd to res ist any contra ry attempts which seek to speed up these negotiations. The U nited States and the Eu ropean Un ion, whose corporations have most to ga in from these ta l ks, a re push ing for a pol itical dec laration i n Cancun ca l l ing on al l WTO members to subm it their services, inc luding essentia l serv ices, to the GATS. For these corporations, GATS prom ises access to new markets and enhanced rights .

I n Cancun, promises made by developed countries i n other WTO a reas wi l l be used to extract progress on GATS, even though GATS is not a key agenda item . This puts immense pressu re on developing countries to com mit more of their services, i nc luding basic services such as water, to the WTO's binding trade rules.

The GATS proponents repeatedly 'frame thei r a mbitions i n the context of development. They refer to the 'Doha Development Agenda'. In water specifica l ly, the EU pub l icly cla i ms that current negotiations, 'cou ld potentia l ly contribute to i nternational efforts to improve access to water. ' Yet in confidentia l i nterna l memos between the Eu ropea n Commission and the top three Eu ropean water companies (Suez, Vivendi and RWE), the EC states that, 'one of the ma in obiectives in the cu rrent round of negotiations i s to ach ieve rea l a nd mean ingfu l access for European service providers for the i r exports of envi ronmenta l services [wh iCh i nc ludes water services] . '

I n J u ly 2002, as part of ongoing GATS negotiations, the EU submitted demands to 109 countries, requesting ambitious l evels of market access for its corporations. Th is i ncluded requests to 72 countries, severa l of them least developed countries, req uesting access to the i r water services . The US a lso subm itted extens ive and controvers ia l demands, which under the g u ise of 'transpa rency ' render domestic decis ion-making vu l ne ra ble to foreign commercia l i nterests.

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2.4 Press Release

Developing countries have every reason to resist such fa r-reaching demands. So fa r, the l ibera l isation of water services has caused g rave problems in cou ntries where the i nvolvement of foreig n multinationa ls has typica l ly made water more expensive than poor households can afford. Any country making GATS commitments in water would bind such l ibera l isation for the futu re, making it effectively impossible for it to withdraw, even if service provision is unafforda ble to the poor, the water service is of poor qua l ity, or a futu re government wishes to change the po l icy.

The U nited Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rig hts, concerned with the effect of GATS on un iversa l service obl igations, suggests that GATS conflicts with the human rig hts obligations, of WTO member countries . Barely a year ago at the UN World Summit on Susta inable Development i n Johannesburg, heads of the governments made commitments to ha lve the proportion of people without access to water a nd that of those without access to sanitation by 20 1 5 . But the evidence from many commun ities, especia l ly those in the deve loping world, is that the g lobal water crisis wi l l worsen if water is subjected to WTO ru les that put corporate interests ahead of the right to water as fundamenta l to l ife.

I n order to make these obl igations a rea l ity we ca l l on Min isters meeting in Cancu n to ha l t the cu rrent GATS negotiations and keep essentia l services, such as water, out of the WTO.

Stop the GAT S attackl

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Moratorium on a l l commitments under Genera l Ag reement on Trade in Services (GATS)" is the demand of more than 650 signatories inc luding Pa nchayat Presidents and representatives, trade unions, fa rmers groups, mass organ izations, NGOs and a large number of individuals in the country. They have voiced this demand by endorsing a letter prepared by EQUATIONS (Bangalore), MANTHAN (Badwani) a nd Focus on the Globa l South (Mumbai). This letter, which wi l l be presented to the Prime Min ister a nd Commerce min istry officials, s ignals the beg inning of a people's ca mpaign against the GATS.

Among the trade unions and mass organ izations that have made this demand a re the All I nd ia Trade U nion Congress (AITUC) , National All iance of Peoples Movements, Mumba i Gra hak Panchayat, Shahar Vikas Manch of Mumbat, Kokan Vikas Sangharsh Samiti, KRRS (Karnatakal, the N imad Malwa Mazdoor Kisaan Sangathan (Mad hya Pradesh) and others. S ign ificantly, more than 200 Panchayat representatives from Tami l Nadu and Andh ra Pradesh have already written to the Prime Min ister.

As part of the " bu i lt- i n -agenda" of the World Trade Organ isation (WTO) , the GATS was reopened for negotiations by the beg inn ing of 2000. From the a rduous negotiations on modalities emerged a non­multilateral mechan ism known as a "request-offer" approach for proceeding ahead with negotiations under the GATS. Member countries of the WTO were asked to make "requests" to other Member countries, which i nclude : (a) the sectors that they want the other Member(s) to open up to l iberalisation (b ) the mode of service supply to be opened up u nder that Sectori a nd (C) the quantum of liberalisation that needs to be carried out under each mode of supply withi n that sector. The Members a re respond ing to these requests by making " i nit ial offers" Th is has overwhelmed most developing countries, at a time when they have been pushing the WTO to implement an assessment of impacts of services trade l ibe ralization .

Why moratorium on GATS offers?

GATS covers more or less all the essentia l publ ic and private services supplied and consumed by society. I n spite of th is fact, the Government of I nd ia i s not carryin g out a publ ic debate in any forum, i nclud ing the Parl iament, to d i scuss how its com mitments u nder GATS would impact the developmental fab ric of Indian society. I rrespective of the fact that a n um ber of services get covered u nder the State a nd Concu rrent list of the I nd ian Constitution, several State level officials a re completely unaware of the GATS itself. I f th is is the a pathy shown by the Centre towards States, nothing better can be expected in the context of Panchayats and Mun ic ipa l Corporations. Panchayat Presidents and representatives were shocked when they were confronted with the experiences of l iberalisation in essential services such as health, education, sanitat ion and water in other developing countries.

The lack of transparency a ssociated with the exist ing l iberalisation agenda, the underm in i ng of federal ism and the lack of competence with in the Commerce min i stry a re some of the several issues h ighl ighted i n the letter, a nd u nderl ine the need for a standstill i n the

27

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negotiations.

The upcoming Fifth WTO Min ister ia l meeting in Cancun is expected to provide the mandate for further negotiations and provide a deadl ine for fina l com mitments. The demand from I ndian civi l society is that i nstead of accepting this process as a fa it accompl i the Government of I ndia shou ld lead the deve loping countries in ca l l i ng for the much-needed assessment of GATS and removal of a l l essentia l services from the a mbit of the GATS.

The s ignatories to the letter bel ieve that the right to essentia l services i s ina l ienable to a l l c itizens o f I ndia . Fu rthe r, equ ity, justice and dig n ity i n the del ivery of essentia l services is i ntegra l for long-term societa l stab i l ity and equa l ity. S ig natories to the letter ca l l upon the I nd ian Government to respect the Indian Constitution and fundamental p ri nci ples of democracy and act upon the concerns expressed i n the l etter.

For further details kindly contact:

Benny Kuruvilla (EQUATIONS) bennyk@equitabletourism.org (080.91.5244988)

Sholmoli Gutiol (Focus on the Global South) sgutiol@focusweb.org (Mobile: 09886020362)

3.0 From The Conference

3.1 Cancun Number Crunching Undermines Claims Of WT O Democracy Massive Negotiating Inequality Reinforces Rich Countries' Hand World Deve lopment Movement, PRESS RELEASE, For immediate release: 10 September 2003

The World Development Movement (WDM) today ( 1 0 Sept) revea led that the EU has a massive 65 1 people in its delegation at the World Trade Organisation Min isteria l meeti ng in Cancun, Mexico. This compares with Rwanda who has just th ree delegates .WDM a lso calcu lated that the two richest delegations, the EU (65 1 ) and the US (2 1 2) , representing approximately 1 0% of the world's population, have a tota l combined delegation of 863, over three times the tota l of 235 for China, I ndia, Brazi l , Argentina and South Africa who co l lective ly represent 5 1 % of the world's popu lation . It is a lso over twice the negotiating strength of the combined delegations of the 30 Least Developed Cou ntry members of the WTO (377) .

The tota l number of delegates from the seven richest nations, the G7, in Cancun is 805

Ba rry Coates, WDM's Director, sa id: "The vast dispa rity in the sizes of delegations is yet another indicator that the odds a re stacked against the poorest nations in the negotiations at the Cancun Min isteria l . Combined with the deeply unfa i r negotiating process, the

29

developing world has l ittle chance to ach ieve fa i rer trade rules. The one member one vote idea l of the WTO so often cited by its defenders col la pses under the rea l ity of the massive i nequa l ities in negotiating strength . "

.

"The EU's massive delegation is much la rger than the 594 it sent to Seattle and 502 in Doha . This was condemned as a negotiating mismatch too fa r between rich and poor countries. Some compared it to putting Mike Tyson i nto the ring with a sma l l boy. Now Mike Tyson has a twin brother. "

"This i s yet another exam ple o f why developing cou ntries u rgently need democratic reform of the WTO to strengthen the i r hand and protect them from being trampled by the trade elepha nts . "

Note: Delegation numbers include both NGOs and business advisors.

Press releases and analysis are available at 'lI"V'.V \'l/dn1.or�j.uk

3.2 Why Are We Protesting Today?

Press release by Participants in the peaceful protest at the Cancun Convention Center, Sept. 10, 2003.

30

Our act of protest today is one that is meant to symbolize the fact that peoples throughout the world have turned their backs on an institution that has become a source of g lobal poverty, inequal ity, disempowerment, and environmenta l crisis.

Once presented as the premier institution of economic g loba l governa nce of the 2 1st century, the actions o f the WTO over the last eig ht yea rs-moves ta ken at the behest of the powerful corporate i nterests in the U nited States and the European Un ion-have revealed it to be noth ing but an instrument of corporate power.

The WTO is undemocratic Throug h its use of non-tra nspa rent decision-ma king mechanisms, the WTO has shown itself to be in violation of the basic rules of democracy. I n the WTO, par l iamenta ry institutions a re reserved for speech making while real decisions a re taken in informal , restricted "Green Rooms" and "min i min isterial" whose participants are handpicked by a few powerfu l governments, foremost of which are the United States and the European U nion. The vast majority of the 1 46 member countries of the WTO are developing countries. Yet the strong rule because there are no democratic ru les that govern decision­making. This is a 1 5th centu ry institution that is masquerading as a 2 1 sf

centu ry organ ization .

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.. �� •• r.

The WTO is a nti-development The free trade biases that the WTO promotes are rea l ly

mechanisms that a l low the corporate monopolies to pry open and monopol ize developing country markets by suppress ing efforts at national deve lopment. The dum ping of h ighly subsidized agricu ltura l p roducts o f agribusiness interests that i s institutional ized in the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) is destroying the agricultura l sector of developing countries. The Trade related inte l lectua l Property Rights (TRI PS) Agreement is nothing but a corporate mechanism to privatize and profit from knowledge, even if the price are the deaths of mil lions of people owing to their lack of access to critica l medicine. Last week's so-cal led "agreement" s imply perpetuates this .

Membership in the WTO makes it imposs ib le for developing countries to use control of their externa l trade via tariffs a nd quotas as part of a strategy of development. This use of trade policy for development was used by earlier developing societies i ncluding the Un ited States, many Eu ropean countries, a nd Japan. Today, not only is the use of trade pol icy for i ndustria l ization effectively outlawed by the WTO regime, but the hegemonic powers i n the organization, the EU and the US, are making a determined drive to br ing under "WTO discipl i ne" other mechanisms that have long been used by governments as key instruments of national economic development: investment pol icy, competition pol icy, a nd government procurement pol icy.

3 1

Aside from paving the way for tra nsnationa l corporate control over vita l services such as water a nd education, the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services is rea l ly an i nvestment agreement masquerading as a trade agreement, a nd its remova l of restrictions on fore ign i nvestment i n services wi l l l ead to one more vita l a rea of the economy detached from nationa l development pol icy.

The WTO is obsolete. The corporate princip les that gu ide the WTO, which put profits over

human rights, socia l equity, democracy, a nd ecologica l equ i l ibrium, a re the p i l la rs of a paradigm that is obsolete and unsusta inable . Implementation of th is economic paradigm has resulted in vastly greater poverty, inequa l ity, and environmenta l destabi l ization in the South and North over the last two decades. The WTO is part of a system of g loba l economic power whose time has passed. Moving forward to serve the i nterests of people and the environment means embracing economic pri nciples that put people, community, and the environment over profits. Moving forward means leavi ng the WTO behind.

Join us i n turn ing our backs on an u ndemocratic, a nti­deve lopment, and obso lete institution .

3. 3 Urgent Memo, 1 3 September 2 003

This is the copy of a memo found in

the US and EU press boxes at the WTO Convention center. Picked up by a

number of journalists, it was soon

obvious that it was a fake planted by

a civil s ociety organ isation . The issues

raised in the memo altho ugh ore not

fa r from the truth.

32

From : Pasca l Lamy and Robert Zoel l ick

To: I nternational Chamber of Commerce (ICC) , the Eu ropea n Services Forum (ESF) , the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) , National Foreign Trade Counci l (N FTC) Federation of German I ndustries (BDI) a nd others

Re : Progress on you r wishes for new issues and services at Cancun negotiations

Dear S irs

2nd draft Min isteria l text out today is even better tha n expected. Have ignored majority of world's countries j ust as you instructed. Brief summary below re you r main objectives

Investment in You said you wanted investment negotiations i n and some tough

investor protection . I nvestment i s i n and so i s the c lever phrase II other

elements ra ised by members" so things l i ke investor to state disputes and portfol io i nvestment can sti l l be covered . You should profit from that!

Kil l off competition We took you r h i nt when you said " ICC u rges agreement i n Cancun

to push forward these negotiations and fina l ize the negotiating agenda to include the key issues of investment, trade faci l itation and government procurement" You del iberately l eft out competition so we have left our opinions open on that.

Trade facil itation and Government Procurement In

I n despite the comp lete lack o f exp l ic it consensus and concern by developing countries . Th is should keep you happy and ensure southern markets i n particu lar a re opened up for a l l you r members.

Link to progress on Agriculture You wi l l rea l ly l i ke this one - a footnote i n the text means that

trade-offs between agricultu re and i nvestment can proceed. Thanks for the t ip.

Accelerated Services Negotiations We thought we might have to halt and review GATS but now it's on

a fast track and developing countries under further pressure to submit offers. ESF you rem inded us that " In economic terms, services a re s ign i ficantly more important than agricu lture, and the ESF u rges the WTO members to be as flexib le as P?ss ib le in agricu lture negotiations. The agreement on the Common Agricu ltu ra l Pol i cy as wel l as the reasonable Joint E U-US Negotiating Proposa l should make it easier to achieve positive p rogress at the tal ks in Cancun and thereafter" so we've tried to look l i ke we a re doing something on agricu lture without actua l ly g iv ing a nything away.

Wil l keep you posted as things proceed . We regu larly check your positions on www. investmentwatch�.

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3.4 African Parliamentarians Denounce WTO Manuplation PRESS STATEMENT, For immediate release : September 1 4, 2003 .

A stro n gly worded press statement

that was signed by a num ber of

African parl iamentarians who were at

Can c u n . While E uropean Parl iamen­

tarians (especially t h e Greens) also

issued stro n g statem ents agai nst th eir

trade commiss ions man ipulat i o n s ,

I n dian MPs were conspicuous b y their

absence.

34

We African parl iamenta ria ns denounce the on going WTO negotiations which have been cha racterised by b latant manipulation by deve loped countries in tota l disrega rd of the interests and voices of Africa n countries . The draft text currently under discussion is unacceptable to us because it condemns mill ions of Africa ns to perpetua l underdevelopment and abject poverty due to its fa i l u re to incorporate the major concerns of Africa .

We abhor the total lack of transpa rency throug h a ca reful ly orchestrated Green Room process designed to brow-beat our Ministers into agreeing to an outcome that secu res the interests of deve loped countries whi le tota l ly ignoring the critical deve lopment concerns of ou r constituents.

In the ea rly hours of this morning, we witnessed our Ministers come under intense pressure when they were dragged into an impromptu mini - Green Room meeting starting at 1 .00 am from which their expert trade advisers were ba rred. This meeting dragged on until 4.00am this morn ing . We view this as an underhand tactic to coerce our Min isters towa rds a pre-determined and desired outcome that secu res the interests of the Un ited States and the Europea n Un ion wh ile our cou ntries' interests rema in on the parking lot.

As e lected representatives of our people, we condemn the ro le of the WTO Secretariat in fac i l itati ng this undemocratic and non transpa rent Green Room process. In pa rticu lar we a re dismayed at the un representative nature of this process where the selection of pa rtici pati ng countries is both unclea r and undefined and thus, unaccepta ble to us.

We condemn the move by the Un ited States and the Europea n Un ion to use the so ca l led Singa pore issues to distract the attention of this Min iste ria l Conference away from making tangib le commitments pa rticula rly on their trade distorti ng agricultura l subsidies.

We urge our Ministers here in Ca ncun to rema in firm in their key dema nds and not to join in any consensus on an outcome that wil l undermine the developme nt interests of our countries.

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As representatives of our people we shal l fa ithfu l ly a nd steadfastly play our oversight role here in Cancun and if need be, we shal l ensure that our Parl iaments do not ratify any outcome that is u nacceptable to our countries' i nterests and to our constituents. For further information contact:

Sheila Kawamaro-Mishambi, Member of Parliament, East African legislotive Assembly - Tel . 998844 6728

3. 5 Reject the Ministerial Text Press Statement issued i n Cancun, Mexico dated 1 4 September 2003

The draft m in isterial decla ration text [JOB (03 l 1 S0/rev, 2J i s a l l TAKE a nd no GIVE as far as deve loped countries a re concerned. It renders the Doha pre-condition of "expl icit decis ion by consensus mean i ng less and f l ies in the face of the una mbig uous opposition of a la rge nu mber of developing countries to com mencing negotiations on the so-ca l led S ingapore issues. The ruse of a decision that the Work ing Group wil l be convened i n a Special Session "to elaborate procedu ra l and substantive modal ities" for negotiations on i nvestment wi l l deceive none: It is tantamount to assuming "an exp l icit consensus" which does not exist. The story is s im i la r in regard to "Competi t ion pol icy" . In regard to "Government Procu rement" and "Trade Facil itation", the draft does not even 'attem pt to conceal its i ntention : I t straightaway cal ls for negotiations. Moreover, it prejudges the a pp l icab i l ity of Dispute Settlement Procedu res. And i n that it impl ies more than what meets the eye. It is on ly a thin end of the wedge to br ing i n MFN and Nationa l treatment eventua l ly.

I n rega rd to Agriculture, the text offers v i rtual ly a n a rray of empty boxes which wi l l presumably be fi l led i n le isurely by EU and USA, as they wish, i n Geneva . The "B lue Box" remains i n tact, with an undefi ned idea of "capping it", not knowing how high the peg wi l l be set to hang the cap on and how long it may take to bring it a few notches down . The "Green Box" v i rtua l ly rema ins untouchable, with a ritual reference to m in ima l diScip l i ne , if at a l l . Developing countries wi l l have l ittle defensive mechan ism of protection left with them, except a longer t ime -schedule for reducing tariffs and admittedly a restricted l ist of Specia l Products. SSM (Specia l Safety Mechan isms) wou ld be ava i lab le to them on ly at the price of a l lowing it to be reta ined by developed countries a lso ! As far as I ndia is concerned, the right to

35

36

impose quantitative restrict ions on imports is essentia l to safeguard the l ivel ihood of seven hundred m i l l ion people dependent on agriculture and a l l ied occupations. Ind ian Agricu ltu re is facing an unprecedented crisi s . And the d raft declaration is tota l ly obl iv ious of what is a bsol utely essentia l to save it from d isaster.

On the priority i ssues of " Imp lementation", the d raft offers noth ing by way of priority. I ndeed it relegates those i ssues to the Geneva processes as " business -as- usua l" . Even for S and D, the same treatment i s a ppl ied.

On the i ssue of Serv ices, the a im of the negotiations has been reduced to "progressively h igher levels of l i bera l ization" when GATS itself recogn izes the development d imension expl icitly and u nambiguously. There should have been recogn ition that p rovis ion of services l i ke Education, Health, Water Supply, wh ich constitute the basic human rights, can not be a l lowed to be commodified a nd, therefore , such sectors should be taken off from the negotiati ng process. There i s no awareness of this important aspect i n the d raft declaration .

I t i s acknowledged on a l l s ides that there i s lack of relevant statistics that makes i t i mpossib le for developing countries to assess the costs and benefits of services l i be ra l ization i n various sectors. The re is a mandatory provis ion i n GATS for making such an assessment before start ing on a new round of l ibera l ization . However, th is basic shortcoming is ignored a nd the negotiations a re sought to be pushed at ful l speed .

Al l i n a l l , the d raft decla ration is a b latant exercise i n sel l-serving tactics of the trade ma jors. What i s worse, it shows complete lack of sensitivity to the concerns of the vast majority of the peoples of the world . It deserves to be rejected outright .

Sd! / , S.P'Shukla ,Convener, IPCAWTO, New Delhi, Indio

Indian People's Campaign Againsl WTO

(A coalition of NGOs, Trode Unions and activists)

J 152 Sakel, New Delhi 1 1 001 7 Indio. e maii; theroos@vsnl .com

4 .0 Agriculture 4. 1 Biggest U S Growers Pocket 7 1 % Farm Sops 9 September 2003, Reuters, Washington

The biggest American farmers received 7 1 % of US farm su bsid ies since 1 995, environmenta l i sts said on Tuesday in a report that could fuel the fight i n Congress for tighter l imits on. Farm supports. Activists say mammoth payments to l a rge operators g ives them the cash to outbid their smal ler neighbors for land and equ ipment. The resu lt is h igher operating costs, they say, but no imptovement in farm income. Accord ing to the Env i ronmenta l Working Group (EWGL a Washington based activist organ isation , the top 1 0% of US g rowers col lected an average $278,932 a year. Their share o f payments steadi ly g rew from 1 995, when the e l ite g roups of farmers got 55 % of government payments.

B i l l ions of dol l a rs a re funneled to American g ra in , cotton a nd soyabean g rowers each year: Farmers a nd ranchers a lso receive federa l money to id le environmental ly sensitive land or to control manure run-off from fields a nd feedlots .

Rice land Foods, a 9 ,000 member co-operative in Arkansas, was the la rgest subsidy recipient i n 2002 with $ 1 1 0 mi l l ion .

The subsidy l i st indirectly incl uded Bernard Ebbers, the former chief executive of telephone compa ny World-Corn, which fi l ed the la rgest bankruptcy case in h istory last year. Ebber was part owner of Joshua Timber, which got $44J 61 since 1 995, mostly for land conservation. Ebbers was not shown as receiving money d i rectly. The EWG released its report as the WTO was meeti ng to d iscuss how to cut farm subsidies.

37

-Reuters Top programs in the Un ited States, 1 995-2002"

Rank Program Number of Recipients

1 Corn Subsidies 1 ,365,459

2 Wheat Subsidies 1 , 1 44,887

3 Conservation Reserve Programme 627,61 8

4 Soybean Subsidies 791 ,340

5 Cotton Subsidies 204, 1 82

6 Rice Subsidies . 54,403

7 Sorghum Subsidies 51 2,005

8 livestock Subsidies 656,255

9 Dairy Program Subsidies 142,860

1 0 Barley Subsidies 301 ,554

1 1 Peanut Subsidies 67,063

1 2 Environmental Quality Incentives Program 84, 723

1 3 Tobacco SubSidies 342,143

1 4 Sunflower Subsidies 40,688

1 5 Sugar Subsidies 8,036

1 6 Oat Subsidies 570,596

1 7 Apple Subsidies 8,457

1 8 Wool Subsidies 64,847

1 9 Canola Subsidies 14,51 3

2 0 Sheep Meat Subsidies 27,704

Source: "Top programs in the United States, 1995-2002", ot hHp;/ , wv,w.ewq.oq,JI'forrnlregion .php ?fips

,< Retrieved on October 1 8" 2003 >

Subsidy Total

$34,552,627,460

$ 1 7,247,966,489

$1 3,0 1 8,1 73,430

$ 1 0,967,530,537

$ 1 0,663,566,847

$7, 795,799, 1 1 6

S3, 1 93,985, 1 71

$2,2 56,567,708

$2,01 8,407,457

$ 1 ,4 1 1 ,386, 1 47

$ 1 ,265,735,609

$542,457, 79 1

$479,469,789

$377,346,688

$299,778,377

$ 1 83,445,543

$ 1 69,437 ,769

$ 1 56, 1 92,61 1

$ 1 51 ,36 1 ,01 0

$55,827 ,008

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39

4 . 2 M r. Lee Kyu ng H o e La Jornada, (Mexico), September 23, 2003 , by Luis Hernandez Navarro

40

Translated from Spa nish by Gisela Sanchez, Pa u l i na Novo, Ana Mateos and Peter Rosset ( Food Fi rst) . Orig ina l Span ish vers ion at: httpi/wwvdo()dfirsi .')'9Irneclia� n(\w$i

Before Lee Kyung Hoe set out to meet his death in Cancu n, he visited his wife's g rave a nd mowed his lawn. O n September 9th, a long with his Korean compan ions, he ca rried a symbol ic coff in of the World Trade Organ ization (WTO) a long the streets of "Vipers nest" (what the name "Cancun" means i n the Mayan l ang uage), whi le de l ivering h i s pol it ical wi l l and testament. The fol lowing day Chusok day (the date that com memorates the dead i n Korea) - be cl i m bed the pol i ce barricade which separated the mu ltitude from the palatia l meeting place of the WTO,

addressed the crowd , and p l unged a sma l l Swiss Army kn ife i nto his chest. He was wearing a s ign that sa id : "The WTO Ki l l s Farmers ."

Mr. Lee chose his time to die, i n the same way that he chose his m ission in l ife. Accord i ng to his older s ister, Lee Kyang, "the most important things for him were the farmers, his pa rents, and his three daughters" . H is immolation was an exemplary act: a d ramatic representation of the fact that the WTO actua l l y murders peasants a round the world .

Although su icides among fam i ly fa rmers a round the world are common, very few members of the mass media seem to be concerned a bout it . More than a thousand peasants committed s uicide i n India between 1 998 and 1 999, for example . Many of

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them did it by drin ki ng pesticides. I n Eng land and Canada the su icide rate a mong farmers is twice the national average. I n Wales o n e farmer commits su icide every week. In the U.S . Midwest su icide is the fifth la rgest cause of death a mong farmers . I n Ch ina peasa nts a re the soc ia l g roup with the h ighest su icide rate. In Austra l ia the frequency of farmer i mmolations is rough ly equa l to the rate of accidenta l death. Mr. Lee had to take h is own l ife so that the media would recog n ize what i s happen ing to farmers in our world.

Sadly his sacrifice has been j udged in genera l with a lack of understanding and consideration . The weight of the Christian

tradition has i mpeded some ' people from seeing h i s true generosity. Just as rel ig ious rites began before our own i ndividua l existence, and have a l ife of their own, Mr. Lee's immolation i s a n act which transcends a s imple i ndividual decis ion. By taking h is own l ife, Mr. Lee has g reatly strengthened the g loba l strugg le for the surviva l of a mi l lenarian cu lture now threatened by free trade pol icies : the cu lture of rice.

Korean cu lture is based on rice. In Mesoamerica we say we a re the "people of maize" - thus we can say that Koreans a re the "people of rice. " Rice is much more tha n a commodity for the rura l people of Korea : it is a n a ncestral way of l ife . The Korean

4 2

word bap is used both for cooked rice as wel l a s for food in genera l . I f you ask a Korean ch i ld what they see on the Moon, they wil l te l l you they see rabbits m i l l i ng rice i n a g ia nt mortar. A large proportion of the total labor force in Korea is dedicated to the cultivation of rice. Because of r ice, rural v i l l ages are located i n the midst of the very rice paddies where v i l lagers work. Rice represents 52% of agricu ltura l p roduction .

At the end of the 1 980s, South Korea started to reduce agricu ltural subsidies a nd open its markets to food i mports, thanks to the agricultura l reforms of the Urug uay Round [which later became the WTOl which put a culture more than a m i l l ion years old in grave danger. J ust twelve years ago South Korea had a popu lation of 6 .6 mi l l ion farmers . Today this number has d ropped to j ust 3.6 mi l l ion . Subsidized rice exports to Korea from the U.S . a re fou r t imes cheaper than the rice produced by Korean farmers . Opening the Korean market u nder the WTO to Washington's exports i s proving to be the ru in of farmers in this Asian country.

Mr. Lee's death must be seen as a n attem pt to defend h i s culture . A fina l attempt after having exhausted many other paths. Earl ier be bu i l t a demonstration farm of twenty hectares. He wanted to show how farmers cou ld su rvive,

i ncrease their production and compete desp ite fa l l i ng crop prices. But in 1 999 he lost the farm to foreclosure by the bank. On th irty sepa rate occasions he protested with h unger strikes, and even tried to take h is l ife once before as an act of protest aga inst the WTO and the U ruguay Round . He was e lected to h is state leg islature three times as a fa rmer representative . Yet none of these efforts succeeded in defend ing farmers from free trade .

The meaning of h i s immolation is this: it is a n act to stop the further suffer ing of h is people. As pa rt of h is last w i l l and testament he left a note saying :

li lt is better that a s i ng le person sacrifices their l ife for ten people, than ten people sacrifice the i r l ives for just one."

As the ph i losopher Carl Jaspers once wrote : "suicide is a testament to the d ign ity of men, it is an expression of their freedom". Mr. Lee's sacrifice rem inds us that, i n times of crisis, hope comes from those who, through the i r example of human d ignity as part of a larger movement, become our un ique rol e models .

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4. 3 Food and Agriculture Out of the WT O! India Out of the WT O ! Say Karnataka Farmers Banga lore, September 1 0, 2003. Excerpts from a report by Sha lma l i Gutta l , Focus on the Global South .

Over 35,000 fa rmers from across Ka rnataka State converged in Bangalore--the state capita l-today to protest the sta rt of the Fifth Min isterial Meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Cancun, Mexico. The ra l ly ing cry of the fa rmers was, " Either food and ag riculture must be removed from the WTO, or I ndia must quit the WTO."

The ra l ly was organ ised by the Karnataka State Farmers' Association-Karnataka Rajya Ryota Sangha (KRRS) and joined by the Dal it Sa ngharsh Samithi (DSS) and representatives from the Tami Nadu Farmers' Association.

The main issues raised i n the ra l ly were the impact of the WTO's Ag reement on Agriculture on sma l l fa rmers i n I ndia and the I ndian Government's fa i l u re to protect its fa rmers from ruin and l itera l ly, death . Burdened by crop fa i l u res, low commodity prices and heavy debt burdens, at least 280 fa rme rs have committed su icide in Ka rnataka from Apri l to September. The entire gathering resolved that food is the right of eve ry person and .ca nnot be left to the whims or dictates of the market.

"Farmers' suicides and l ibera l isation are directly related," said Professor M. D. Najundaswamy, a founder member and cu rrent President of the KRRS. " It a l l sta rted in 1 995. Before that we did not have these mass suicides in Ka rnataka and other states. The yea r 2000 was a record year in agricultu re production si nce independence [ 1 947] , but there were su icides even in that year. The reason for this is l ibera l isation, which has resu lted in fa l l i ng prices, fall ing i ncomes and i ncreasing debts ." According to Professor Nan jundaswamy, the KRRS asked the Government of I ndia to not sig n the agreement estab l ish ing the WTO as fa r back as 1 992 . In 1 994 , KRRS leaders met the leadership of a l l pol itical parties a nd made the case for I ndia to pu ll out of the WTO. 'j\ta l B ihari Vajpayee was the leader of the opposition at that time and told me not worry so much and that I ndia could a lways withdraw from the WTO with six months notice" he said. "Now we demand that I ndia come out of the WTO, and in sol ida rity with other fa rmers' movements across the world, we demand that food and agriculture be removed from the WTO."

43

Farmers at the ra l ly a lso l i nked the impacts of trade l iberal isation to other sectors. I n the words of H .S . Masti from Bagalkot District, " Imported goods wi l l be sold at very low prices and our own producers wil l be made useless. I t i s not on ly sma l l farmers, but a lso other producers i n our vi l lages such as ca rpenters and goldsmiths who wil l be a ffected by cheap imports . In our v i l lages these producers depend on the farmers for their l ive l ihood and wi l l also d ie if farmers d ie . If we cannot feed ourselves, how can we feed others?" Mr. Masti a lso spoke a bout the mu lt iplying effects of agricu ltu re i nputs and genetical ly modified plant varieties to loca l food and environmenta l qual ity. "Because of i nputs l i ke Round-up, dangerous contaminants a re getting i nto our soi l a nd ent ire food system . And no matter what inputs we u se, our food sti l l does not meet inte rnationa l standards . BT corn and BT cotton have been introduced i nto our environment. Our cattle cannot eat BT corn and an ima ls that feed in the area where BT cotton is p lanted have d ied . We do not want such a system."

The expanding ambit of the WTO i n food and agriculture is a serious cause for concern among fa rmer movements i n othe r states as wel l . Accord ing to K . Sel lamuthu from the Tami l Nadu Fa rmers ' Association , oi lseeds (g roundnut, sunflower, g i ngel ly and coconut) currently fetch average prices from Rs. 35-50 per l itre . I n com pl ia nce with WTO requ i rements, I ndia has ag reed to import pa l m oil from Malaysia , which wi l l sel l at Rs . 1 0 per l itre. This wi l l devastate loca l

oi lseed producers . S imi larly, the current market price of wheat is Rs. 1 3 per kg, but i n compl ia nce with WTO requirements, wheat from the U nited States (US) wi l l enter I nd ian markets at Rs. 4 per kg . "The style of production i n the US is d ifferent from I ndia . They farm la rge tracts of land with mechan ised technology. I n I nd ia , we have zero agricu lture subsidies a nd farmers are a l ready committing suicide; the ag ricu lture sector itself is committing su icide. Seventy c rores of people [seven hundred m i l l ion] wi l l b e impacted b y the WTO, a l l d i rectly in the agricu lture sector. Arun Ja itly has a l so sa id th is, but whether the I nd ian Government wi l l uphold this in Cancun or agree to quit the WTO is not certa in . Based on the resu lts of Cancun, we wi l l make further p lans for future actions." Mr. Se l lamuthu added, " In rura l a reas, 80 out of 1 00 chi ldren sti l l go to school without chappals [s l ippers] . B ring ing food and agricu lture u nder the WTO's web wi l l not work for developing countries l ike I ndia ./f

The ra l l y today was not an isolated or one-off event. S ince 1 992, fa rmers' movements in I ndia have staged un ified protests against the Dunke l D raft and the establ ishment of the WTO, which marked the i nc lusion of agricu ltu re i nto the WTO. Since the launch of the cu rrent negotiations under the Doha work progra mme, farmer a nd fisher movements across the developing a nd developed world have joined hands and dema nded that l i bera l isation of the agricu ltu re sector be ha lted, and that governments prioritise the needs of their smal l , family­based ag riculture producers over the interests of middle-men, agri­business compan ies a nd trans-national food companies. A s ignificant worry for peasant and a rtisana l fisher movements in developing countries is that thei r governments wi l l trade agriculture away for concessions in other sectors such as services, foreign di rect i nvestment a nd industry.

The farmers at the ra l ly were wel l aware of Ind ia's negotiatin g position in the Cancun Min isteria l meeti ng, but were not confident that the I nd ian Government wi l l meet the cha l lenge to protect them from the ons laught of further trade l ibe ra l isation . Women in the gathering were fami l iar with the rules of the GATT /WTO and what an expansion of these rules means for their future . In the words of one of the speakers, "Since independence, the fa rmers who have provided rice for this country a re committing su icide and our government is responsible for this. Ja itly i s speaking some sense now in the WTO. But we have to send a strong message to h im that he does not change h is position in Cancun u nder pressure from delegates from certa i n other countries. Va jpayee m ust get the same message . "

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5.0 Official Documents

5 . 1 Letter to Pierre Pettigrew from Arun Jaitely and Rafidah Aziz

46

H.E . Mr. P ierre S. Pettigrew, Minister for International Trade of Canada & Facilitator for the Singapore Issues at the Cancun Ministerial Conference Concun, 12 September 2003

Dear Mr. Pettigrew,

O n behalf of the delegations from Antigua & Barbuda, Bangladesh (on behalf of the LDCs) , Barbados, Botswana, Bel ize, Ch ina, Cuba , Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Ha iti, Ind ia, I ndonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia , Nigeria , Ph i l i ppines, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia , St. V i ncent & the Gre na d ines, Sur i nam, Tanzan i a , Tri n idad & Tobago, Uganda, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe, we wish to convey to you the i r views on the fou r new issues of 'Re lationsh ip between Trade and I nvestment ' , ' I ntera ct ion between Trade a n d Competit ion Po l i cy', 'Transparency in Government Procurement' and 'Trade Fac i l itat ion' .

The a bove delegations have concerns a bout the impact of m ulti latera l rules on the fou r new issues on their domestic pol icies a n d consider that they have yet to fu l ly comprehend the imp l ications of having WTO ru les on these issues. These concerns i nc lude a mong others the imp l ications on domestic pol ic ies a nd ava i lab i l ity of resources. The issues a re h igh ly techn ical a nd complex and requ i re much more ana lys is .

These de legations a lso consider that many developing countries do not have the capacity to implement obl igations a ris ing out of commitments such mu lt i latera l rules wi l l enta i l , and there were a lso doubts on the benefits of WTO fra meworks on the new issues. A n umber of other countries, a part from the a bove, have a lso conveyed s im i lar v iews at the open ended meeting of the faci l itation g roup cha i red by you. Hence, we note that there is no expl icit consensus on the moda l ities for negotiations as per the Doha mandate .

The a bove delegations a lso have concerns about the process through which these issues have been brought to this Min isterial without any p rior d iscussion on the modal ities.

The a bove delegations a re of the firm view that there i s no option to pursue other than the continuation of the cla rification p rocess. We therefore u rge that the language enclosed i n the Annex be i ncorporoted into a ny revised text of the d raft Cancun Min isteria l Declaration (JOB (03) 1 ISO/Rev. 1 ) i n l ieu o f Paras 1 3 to 1 6 .

With our best wishes,

You rs s i ncerely,

Dato' Seri Rafidah Aziz Minister of International Trade & Industry Government of Malaysia

Annex

Paragra ph 1 3 :

Arun Jaitely Minister for Commerce & Industry Government of India

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND INVESTMENT

We take note of the d iscussions that have taken p lace in the Working Group on the Relationship between Trade a nd I nvestment s ince the Fou rth Min isteria l Conference. G iven the a bsence of expl ic it consensus, there is no basis for the commencement of negotiations in th is a rea . Accord ingly, we decide that further cla rification of the issues be u nde

'rtaken in the

Worki ng Group. Any negotiations i n this a rea sha l l be u ndertaken only on the basis of expl ic it consensus at the Sixth Min isteria l Conference on the moda l ities- of such negotiations.

We recogn ize the needs of developing a nd least-developed countries for enhanced support for techn ica l assistance and capacity bu i ld ing i n th is a rea, i nc lud ing pol icy ana lysis a nd development so that they may better eva l uate the impl ications of closer mu lti latera l cooperation for their development pol icies a nd objectives, and human and institutional development. To this end, we sha l l continue to work i n cooperation with other re levant intergovernmenta l organisations, includ i ng U NCTAD, a nd

4 7

4 8

th rough app ro p ri ate reg iona l a nd b i l ate ra l c han ne l s, to p rovide strengthened a nd adequately resourced assistance to respond to these needs.

Parag raph 1 4 : INTERACTION BETWEEN TRADE AND COMPETIT ION P OL ICY

We take note of the discussions that have taken p lace i n the Working Group on the I nteraction between Trade a nd Competition Pol icy s ince the Fou rth M in ister ia l Confe re n ce . Given the a bsence of exp l ic it consensus, there is no basis for the commencement of negotiations in this a rea . According ly, we decide that further clarification of the issues be u ndertaken i n the Working Group. Any negotiations in this a rea sha l l be undertaken on ly on the basis of expl icit consensus at the Sixth Ministeria l Conference on the modalities of such negotiations.

We recogn ize the needs of deve loping and least-developed countries for enhanced support for techn ica l assistance a nd capacity bu i lding i n this a rea, i nc luding pol icy ana lysis and development so that they may better eva l uate the implications of closer m u lt i late ra l cooperation for thei r development pol icies a nd objectives and human and institutiona l deve lopment. To this end we sha l l conti nue to work i n cooperation with othe r relevant intergovernmenta l organ isations, inc luding U NCTAD, a nd t h rough a pp ro p ri ate reg iona l a nd b i l a te ra l c h a nn els, to p rovide strengthened and adequately resourced a ssistance to respond to these needs.

Paragraph 1 5 : TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT P ROCU REMENT

We take note of the discussions that have taken p lace i n the Working Group on Transparency in Government P rocu rement s ince the Fou rth Min isteria l Conference. Given the absence of exp l icit consensus, there is no basis for the commencement of negotiations i n this a rea . Accordingly, we decide that further clarification of the issues be u ndertaken in the Working Group. Any negotiations sha l l be l imited to the tra nsparency aspects a nd therefore, wi l l not restrict the scope for countries to g ive preferences to domestic supp l ies a nd suppl iers . Any negotiations i n this a rea sha l l be u ndertaken on ly on the basis of exp l icit consensus at the Sixth Min isterial Conference on the modal ities of such negotiations.

We commit ourselves to conti nu i ng adequate techn ical assistance and support for ca pacity bui lding duri ng the clarification process .

Paragraph 1 6 : TRADE FACI LITATION

We take note of the discussions that have taken p lace on Trade Faci l itation in the Counci l for Trade in Goods since the Fou rth Min isteria l Conference. Given the a bsence of exp l ic i t consensu s, t he re is no bas is for the com mencement of negotiations i n th i s a rea . According ly, we decide that further c larification of the issues be u ndertaken in the Counci l for Trade in Goods. Any negotiations i n this a rea sha l l be undertaken on ly on the basis of exp l icit consensus at the Sixth Min isteria l Conference on the modal ities of such negotiations.

We commit ourselves to continu ing adequate technical assistance and support for capacity bu i lding i n this a rea .

5 . 2 India's statement at the Heads of Delegation meeting

Text of the Statement made by

Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley at the

Heads of Delegation meeting

responding to the September 1 3 draft

Mr. C ha i rman ,

The I ndian de legation wou ld l ike to than k you and the faci l itators for you r efforts over the past few days. We a re disa ppointed that the draft text ignores severa l concerns expressed by us a nd many deve loping countries . I note that the pretence of development dimensions of the Doha Agenda has fina l ly been discarded confi rming the apprehension expressed by me at the p lenary sess ion that this is mere rhetoric.

At the outset I would l i ke to asso<;:iate myself with the statement made by distinguished Min ister of Brazil on behalf of G 2 1 on agriculture . Not on ly are the distortions prevalent today being perpetuated, but a s lew of new measures to increase such distortions a re bei ng proposed. The continuation of B lue Box in an en larged form without a ny promise of significant reductions and phasing out in future is a case in point. To give comfort to major subsidizi ng countries, distorting provisions in the Amber Box a re sought to be continued. Both these measures wi l l resu l t i n subsidizing exports of many items from these countries. I nstead of negotiating discip l ines on the Green Box, we have been reduced merely to reviewing the criteria of Green Box measures . Export subsidies a re not on ly a l lowed to continue but are sought to be increased through a new para l le l ism p rocess . We bel ieve that we a re compounding the distortions of the U ruguay Round by adding some more to them . The heightened ambition on market access pi l la r, which i ronica l ly provides Specia l a nd Differentia l treatment in favour of developed countries, is utterly i ncomprehensible a nd extremely i nsensitive to the large number of peop le l iv ing i n poverty i n these countries. How can we expect deve loping countries to reduce tariffs on a number of items to between

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50

0% and 5% when the d istortions aga inst which such ta riffs are supposed to com pensate are sought to be enhanced?

The Geneva process and the consu ltations i n the last three days have clearly revea led that the c larification process on S ingapore issues has not yet run i ts cou rse. In the a bsence of clarity on many e lements, a ma jo rity of t he m e m bers h i p of the WTO have rejected l a u nch of negotiations on these issues and sought a continuation of the c larificat ion process . Ignor ing th is, Mr. Cha i rman , you have proposed launch of negot iat ions i n trade fac i l i tat ion a nd tra nspa rency i n government procurement . The sect ion on i nvestment wou ld seem to assume that negotiations would commence on the basis of a Genera l Counci l decision on a date corresponding to f ina l isation of moda l it ies in agricu lture a nd NAMA. The text on competit ion pol icy on the other hand refers to poss ib le negotiations an obvious attempt to accommodate the i nterest of some developed countries. There is no reference to fu r:ther exp l ic it consensus either in the paragra phs on i nvestment or competit ion pol icy. There is

a lso no expl icit consensus at present on any of the issues. I t wou ld a ppear that the views expressed by a large number of deve lop ing a nd least developed countries on the need for further cla rification of issues through a Ministeria l Conference document and through a letter addressed to the faci l i tator by my Malays ian col league and me yesterday, have been com plete ly ignored . Th is, Mr Cha i rman, is yet a nother i nstance of the de l iberate neg lect of the views of a la rge number of developing countries . I t represents a n attem pt made to thrust the views of a few countries on many deve lop ing cou ntries.

On NAMA, we want a specific reference to the Chai rman's formu la for further work. O n sectora l i n it iatives, we bel ieve that the pa rtic ipation has to be volunta ry. The present text is, in fact, an attem pt to make the sectora l i n it iative mandatory. To reflect less than fu l l reciprocity in reduction comm itments , the end-ta riff for deve lop ing countries in the sectora l i n it iatives must be h igher tha n that of the developed countries.

We a re d isa ppoi nted that no t ime frame has been prescribed fo r resolv ing the outstand ing implementation issues. We a re of the view that al l outstand ing issues should be addressed by a negot iat ing g roup under the TNC and thereafter decisions adopted by the Genera l Counc i l by March 2004 . On S&D Issues, we strong ly support the Africa Groups posit ion that has been stated many times i n the past and therefore do not endorse the present decis ion .

We a re u nable to understand why on the issue of cotton subsidies the d raft text deflects attention from the specific cou rse of action suggested by Ben i n a nd th ree other countries by seeking to address d istort ions i n products other than cotton .

Mr. Chairman, we have to express our d isappointment that the revised text b rought out by you has a rbitrar i ly d is rega rded views and concerns expressed by us. We have so for constructively engaged in the ent ire post Doha process i n the hope that this is a development round. We wonder

now whether development here refers to on ly further development of the developed countries . Consequently, Mr. Cha i rman we feel that this text does not lend itself to a ny mean ingfu l d ia logue. We sti l l bel ieve that th is conference m ust be brought to a successful conclusion . We hope that c i rcumstances and environment w i l l be created to enable us to participate constructively.

5 . 3 The Cancun Ministerial Statement 1 4 September 2003

Trade m inisters issue a statement

admitting failure to arrive at

a consensus

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 1 4 September 2003 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Fifth Session

2003

Minister ia l Statement

WT/MI N (03)/W/24 , (03.494 1 )

Ca ncu n, 1 0· 1 4 September

1 . As we conclude our Fifth Min iste ria l Conference in Cancun, we wou ld l i ke to express our deep appreciation to the Government and people of Mexico for the exce l lent o rgan izat ion and warm hospita l ity we have received in Ca ncun .

2 . At this meeting we have welcomed Cambodia and Nepal as the first least-developed countries to accede to the WTO s ince its establ ishment.

3. Al l participants have worked hard a nd constructively to make progress a s requ i red unde r the Doha mandates . We have, i ndeed , made considerab le progress. However, more work needs to be done i n some key a reas to enab le us to p roceed towa rds the conc lus ion of the negotiations i n fu lfi lment of the commitments we took at Doha .

4 . We therefore instruct our officia ls to continue working on outstand ing issues with a renewed sense of u rgency and purpose and taking ful ly i nto account a l l the views we have expressed i n th is Conference. We ask the Chairman of the Genera l Counci l , working i n close co-operation with the Director-Genera l , to coord inate this work and to convene a meeting o f the G e n e ra l Cou n c i l a t S e n i o r Off i c i a l s l eve l n o l a te r t h a n 1 5 December 2003 to take the action necessary a t that stage to enable us to move towards a successfu l and timely conclusion of the negotiations. We shal l continue to exercise c lose personal supervis ion of thi s process.

5 1

5 . We wi l l bring with us i nto th is new phase al l the va luable work that has been done at th is Conference. In those a reas where we have reached a h igh level of convergence o n texts, we u ndertake to ma i nta i n th i s convergence whi le working for a n acceptable overa l l outcome.

6 . Notwithstand ing this setback, we reaffirm a l l our Doha Declarations and Decisions and recommit ourselves to working to implement them ful ly a nd faithfu l ly.

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6 .0 Post Collapse

6 .1 Via Campesina International farmer's movement Afovimiento campesino internacional Mouvement paysan international Secreta ria operative/operative secretariat: Apdo Posta l 3628 Teguciga lpa , MDC Honduras Tel & fax + 504 235 99 1 5 E-mai l : viacam@gbm.hn

We won i n Ca ncun l The WTO was derai led !

The Fifth Ministeria l Conference of the WTO ended on September 1 4th i n complete fa i l ure. The WTO did not even succeed in identifying the location of the next Ministeria l Conference. There was no Decla ration expressing any theme upon which there was agreement a nd there was no time to develop consensus on a future agenda. Th is, together with the a nticipated withdrawa l of many countries from the South, created confusion and chaos in the Ministeria l Conference.

Despite the mobi l ization of strang presence of pol ice and m i l itary forces, on September 1 3th , rura l organ izations, youth, women and other sectors succeeded I n tea ring down the barricade imposed by the Mexican Government a nd the WTO in attempts to make vis ible our presence and our proposals.

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From Septem ber 8 - 1 4th we engaged in s ign ifica nt days of struggle, first, with i n the framework of the International Peasant a nd Indigenous Forum, and later, in diverse street demonstrations both i ns ide and outside the convention center where the negotiators were concentrated. The peasant a nd i ndigenous march of September 1 Qlh

set the tone for the resistance and strugg le of the fol lowing days.

On September 1 3th with patience and g reat courage, one hundred women from all over the world dismantled piece by piece the ba rricade that impeded entry to the convention center. The Korean peasants together with la rge part of the crowd jo ined in this action and us ing thick ropes we torn down the walls . Th is was a symbol of the WTO that would soon col lapse i n Cancun . The thousands of pol i ce and m i l itary stood there ready to quell the protestors but no one was i ntent on confronting them . Our non-violent confrontation was with WTO, not with the pol i ce and the m i l ita ry.

Demonstrators burned two effig ies of the WTO a nd sat down . Then white flowers were p laced in homage of our friend Lee who gave h i s l ife to the people's strugg le, the struggle aga inst the WTO, the struggle for a more just and humane world. On September 1 4th the WTO had coll apsed.

In Cancun we encountered various soc ia l sectors, among them were the youth from different parts of the world. When considering forms of strugg le, these youth a re characterized by different levels of radica l i sm. For example, among the most radica l there is the "Black Block." The Via Canipes ina, being cons istent with its demands, opened spaces for dialogue and convergence with the youth . Th is y ielded extremely positive resu lts a nd their contribution was key to achiev ing our objective through nonviolent means. The youth have expressed a des i re to continue work ing with the Via Campesina i n future actions u nder the conditions mentioned a bove.

There is no dou bt that the sacrifice of ou r friend Lee served to a n imate, strengthen and radical ize the strugg le of those who were I n Cancun a n d those social activists engaged i n actions of mobil ization a round the world. His courage a nd dea l s w i l l l ive with us, we wi l l never forget them . Lee contributed e normously to our v ictory and the dera i l i ng of the WTO.

The governments of the U n ited States (US) and the Eu ropean U n ion (EU) have demonstrated themselves tota l ly i ncapable of u nderstanding and taking i nto account the leg itimate i nterests of people . The i r a rrogant a nd i nflexi b le manner, a nd blackma i l i ng practices, drove

countries of the Th i rd World to form a b lock of opposit ion led by Brazi" I ndia and China (G22) against the US and the EU. The g roup of governments from ACP countries (Africa, Ca ribbean and Pacific) a lso showed opposition . These in itiatives contri buted to stop the Min isteria l . Via Cam pesina welcomes this opposition- but does not agree with the proposa l s of the G22 regarding ag ricu lture . I ncreasing l i bera l ization and market access do not resolve problems of poverty and socia l exclusion of m i l l ions of people i n the world . On the contrary this wi l l worsen the situation .

The President o f the Eu ropean U nion has i nvited the Via Cam pesina to a dia logue on agricu lture . We a re considering th is proposal but we need to receive messages from the European U nion that express a rea l wi l l to change its Common Ag riculture Pol icy a nd current i nternationa l trade rules.

In Cancun the EU c la imed they had a l ready reduced export subsidies. B ut in fact, they had reduced farm prices and replaced export subsidies with d i rect payments which a re recoqn ised in the q reen box. The use of these d i rect payments by the EU and income support schemes by the US a re a h idden way to support agro- industry through low farm prices and to faci l itate dumping on i nternationa l markets. The reaction o f some is to abol ish subsidies i n ag ricultu re a l l together. However th is wou ld be a nother b low for peasant based production . Publ ic s upport for susta inable peasant-based ag riculture, d i rected to those who need it most, is a key demand in the North and the South . However is critica l to stop overproduction in export countries th rough supply management schemes and that countries m ust be ab le to protect themselves from low-priced imports .

The col l apse of the WTO is a resu lt of a profound crisis with i n the neol i bera l mode l . It is u rgent that we continue to strengthen our movements , our a l ternative proposa ls . Creating an open tra nspa rent and constructive dia logue a mong ourselves is a l l the more necessary to advance, i n our strateg ies of strugg le .

The WTO Kil ls Fa rmers ! Ta ke the WTO out of ag riculture, food and

fisheries ! Towa rds Peop les' Food Sovereignty !

G loba l ize the strugg le, g loba l ize hope

I nternational Co-coord inati ng Commission of Via Cam pesi na Teguciga l pa , 23rd of Septem ber 2003

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6 . 2 WTO WI RODHI BHARATIYA JAN ABHIYAN ( I NDIAN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN AGAI NST WTO) PRESS RE LEASE, 20 September 2003

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WTO WIRODHI BHARATIYA JAN ABH IYAN welcomes the recent developments at Cancu n . The most important deve lopment is the re­emergence of the solidarity of the South . Ea rly i nd ications were vis ib le i n Geneva in the formation of G2 1 , on ag ricu lture, on the eve of the Cancun meeting . The role played by B razi l , China, I ndia and South Africa in this respect deserves congratulations. Not on ly because it exposed the self-serving and unfa i r proposa l s of USA and EU on agricultu re but a lso because it he lped bu i ld the cross -continenta l fou ndation for the re-emergence of the solida rity of the South wh ich was witnessed in Cancun .

The dead lock a t the Cancun meeting has, a t least for the t ime bei ng, held back serious threats to our ag ricu lture a nd our a utonomy of economic policy making in regard to investments and othe r related a reas.

The revised proposa l s on agricu lture put forward at the Cancun meeting were too soft on USA a nd EU i n rega rd to the i r commitments to reduce domestic suppo rt and export subsidies; but the proposa l s requ i red us to reduce ta riffs substantia l l y and rapid ly and i ndeed asked for certa i n ta riff l ines to be bound at nomina l rates between 0 and 5 % . . This implied general worsen ing of the d istortions and unfai rness in the world ag ricu lture market. Even worse, this posed a serious danger to our ag ricu lture and to the su rviva l of the mi l l ions dependent on ag riculture for their l ive l ihood . That G-2 1 re jected these proposa ls is a matter of satisfaction . However, the revised proposa ls have exposed the inherent weakness of the government bel ief that tariff instrumenta l ity is adequate to protect this vita l sector from the ons laught of the multi national agri-businesses of USA and EU. At Cancun, i t was p recisely the ta riff i nstrumenta l ity which was sought to be bl unted and made virtua l ly useless for us . We, the refore, reiterate that noth ing short of c la iming and, asserti ng our right to impose quantitative restrictions on ag ricu ltu ra l imports can save our agricu lture and safeguard the l ivel ihood of the seventy percent of our popu lation . Once agai n , we u rge the Government to incorporate this e lement as the centra l pa rt of thei r strategy on agricu ltu ra l negotiations i n WTO.

The dead lock i n Cancun has a lso he lped to keep the forma l negotiations on the so-ca l led Singapore issues a t bay. And this has

been made possib le again because of the developing countries i nc luding the groups of ACP (African, Caribbean , Pacific) countries, the Least Deve loped Countries, the African Union and others l i ke I nd ia, Brazi l a nd Ma laysia hold ing together and i nsisti ng that c larification process must continue and that there was no consensus on starting the negotiations. While this i s welcome, it must be remembered that the legacy of the Doha Declaration whereby the i nvestment, competition pol icy, government procurement and trade faci l itation were brought on the agenda is sti l l a l ive . And there were reports that the government had i ndicated wi l l ingness to accommodate the developed countries i n rega rd to the commencement of negotiations on government procurement and trade faci l itation . We reiterate our opposition to mu lt i latera l discip l ines on a l l the S ingapore issues and urge the government not to agree to any proposa l for such d iscip l i nes on these issues.

On the issue of Services, we note that at Cancun , there was an attempt to reduce the aim of the negotiations s imply to "progressively h igher leve ls of l i bera l ization", whereas Genera l Agreement on Trade i n Services (GATS) itse lf recog nizes the development d imension expl icitly and unam biguously. Also, there was no recogn it ion that p rovision of services l ike Education, Hea lth , Water Supply, which constitute the basic huma n rights, can not be a l lowed to be commodified and , therefore, such sectors should be taken off from the negotiating process. It is acknowledged on a l l sides that there is lack of relevant statistics that makes it impossib le for developing countries to assess the costs and benefits of services l i bera l ization i n various sectors. There is a mandatory provis ion in GATS for making such a n assessment before starting on a new round of l i bera l ization. However, th is basic shortcoming is ignored and the negotiations a re sought to be pushed at fu l l speed . We urge the government to take a c lear stand on these aspects when the process of negotiations is resumed.

That the break-down of Cancun meeting has averted the immediate disaster in the areas of agriculture and the S ingapore issues is a positive development. And a l l those i n the cam p of the South (whether in the Conference hal l or outside) who brought it a bout deserve congratu l ations . The task now is to ensure that the space gained at Cancun is not a l lowed to be frittered away i n the next three months or so, l . e . by the t ime the Genera l Counci l of WTO is schedu led to meet in Geneva to take the process further. The danger is that trade majors wi l l now resort to the bi latera l processes to complete the u nfinished tasks of Cancun . Important members of G-2 1 as wel l as the ACP and other groupi ngs wi l l be subjected to pressures and b landishments . And it is here that the sol ida rity of the South wi l l be tested.

5 7

• We u rge the government to fu rther strengthen its stand on agricu lture , the S i ngapore issues and services.

• We u rge the government to reinforce the sol ida rity of the South i n WTO a n d resist ind iv idua l ly a nd col lectively the ons laught of the developed countries and the i r mu ltin ationals .

• We u rge the government to defeat the possible moves on the part of the developed countries to make decis ion- making processes u ndemocratic and nontransparent i n the name of improving operationa l efficiency of WTO.

6 . 3 Statement From Caribbean Countries PRESS RELEASE , September 1 4 , 2003

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Today the Fifth Ministe ria l Conference of the World Trade O rgan ization i n Cancun , Mexico, at which a l l Caribbean Countries were present, ended without ag reement on the many key issues. B i l led as a Conference to advance the Doha Development Round of Trade Negotiations, the Conference col l apsed on the key issues of deve loping countries such as agricu lture, non -ag ricu ltura l market access, sma l l economies and specia l and d ifferenti a l treatment, as wel l as on the so-co i led S i ngapore issues; i nvestment, government procurement, competit ion pol icy and trade faci l itation measures .

The November 200 1 Doha Min isteria l Conference had agreed that these issues wou ld on ly be pursued after exp l icit consensus on modal ities for their negotiation . No such consensus was reached . Caribbean countries and other Members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, the LDCs g roup, and the Africa n Union strong ly opposed the l aunch of negotiations o n the Singapore Issues.

Caribbean countries, whose key i nterests are in the a reas of sma l l economies, specia l and d ifferentia l treatment, services, agricu lture a nd non-ag ricultu ra l market access, were strong i n their determination to have these development issues g iven priority consideration, consistent with the Doha Decla ration a nd Decisions for a Development Round . There was l ittle or no progress i n these issues .

I n bri ng ing the Conference to a c lose, WTO Min isters instructed thei r offic ia ls to continue working on the outstand ing issues in Geneva with a renewed sense of u rgency and commitment, taki ng i nto account a l l the views expressed i n Cancun . To th is end they instructed the Genera l Counci l to convene at Senior Officia l s level no later tha n

December 1 5, 2003, to take the action necessary at that stage to move the process forward to a successfu l a nd t imely conclusion .

Caribbean de legations share the genera l sense o f disappointment at the l im ited achievements of the Conference i n spite of the best efforts of the hosts. Our Ambassadors and reg ional negotiators m ust therefore with resolve continue to engage thei r counte4parts i n Geneva and mainta i n thei r continu ing active role i n the process to advance the development i nterests of the reg ion.

F ina l ly, the Caribbean delegation wou ld l ike to express their a ppreciation for the efforts of the Cha i r a nd for the hospital ity extended by the Government a nd people of Mexico.

6 . 4 Africans In The Forefront In Cancun 1 5 September 2003, ISSUED BY: AFRICAN PEOPLES CAUCUS MEXICO, CANCUN

Africa peoples' impact at the WTO Ministeria l i n Cancun was out of a l l proportion to the numbers present. Whi le we were lacking i n numbers of activists who cou ld get to Mexico, the African Peoples Caucus made up for th is with our pol itica l convictions a bout our needs and a ims, our polit ical experience i n mass actions, our strategic sense and tactica l ski l ls, a nd the dynamism of our pol itical expression.

This was the widespread opin ion amongst the other organisations from all over the world a lso present in Cancun . In fact our impact was so d ramatic that many were a mazed to learn that we were on ly a bout a dozen i n the core group, a lthough there were other Africans 'on the i nside' (accredited NGOs monitoring the positions of African governments i n the WTO processes) who jo ined us at strategic points a nd i n our strategic plan ning meetings.

On the one hand, we made powerfu l presentations in our meeti ng on "Globa 1 isation a s Recolonisation", a nd testimon ies from African activists "Defend ing our Services and Our Rights" a s the core of our "Voices from Africa" programme i n the famous Hotel Margaritas i n the heart of downtown Cancun which was a focus of many of the NGO activities Ion the outside'.

We a lso contributed to meetings set up by other organ isations from a round the world, such as the very big meeting hosted by the international network "Ou r World is Not for Sale". This exposed on the many bi latera l free trade agreements being pursued by the powers, even as they are engaged in so-cal led m ulti latera l negotiations withi n

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the WTO framework. I n this regard, a l ready evident for us i n Africa is Wash ington's so-ca l led African Growth and O pportun ities Act (AGOA) and the EU's proposed reg ional free trade agreements i n Africa throug h Cotonou . And i n Southern Africa we are now faced with the US-SACU (South African) free trade negotiations a l ready u nderway. Our counter-struggle is a l ready on i n this rega rd ! !

We a lso created our own d ra matic demonstration under our ban ner declaring ''l\frican Peoples - Resisting the WTO", wearing our d istinctive and much admi red b lack and green T-shirts procla imi ng ''l\frica is Not for Sale Africa no es a la Venta" . We carried our dozens of hand- made placards declaring " People not Profits ! " . . . . "Government! Companies ! We say O u r Services a re Not for Sale ! " . . . . " Free Trade Destroys our Livel ihoods! "land and Food Security for Al l - Down with the WTO! " . . . . "F ishers and land less People Say No to the WTOI "No to free Trade - No to GMOs!# and many more.

This march u p to the i nfa mous barricade cutting us off from the WTO a rea, attracted the attention of media from a l l over the world and got fu l l reporting a l1d v isual coverage i n many newspapers and on i nternational televis ion reports. We wi l l share these i mages when we get back home.

More importantly, our African demonstration received support from other o rgan isations from a round the world and everyone wanted to wea r our wonderful black a nd g reen T-sh i rts. We made such an impact that when i t came to the massive march ''l\ga inst Global i sation a nd Mi l itarisation", on Saturday 1 3th, the common ca l l was for "the Africans" to go to the front.

In fact it was our African women who were at the very face of the ten foot steel a nd concrete barricade blocking us off from the conference centre ten ki lometers away. And it was our African women who wielded the huge bolt cutters to cut though the wire fence, backed u p by ran ks of other women from around the world . And behind them were the wel l -organ ised Koreans with strong ropes which were pushed through the breaks in the fence to pu l l i t down. And as that symbol ic act was achieved and a roar of tri umph swel led up from the h uge crowd, the fi rst people th rough the fence were African women shouting "Down with the WTO ! Africa is not for Sa le !

Once that the symbolic victory had been ach ieved the pol itical ly experienced and wel l-organ ised forces leading the march, especia l ly the peasant and i nd igenous organ isations from Mexico and a round the world , d id not seek or pravoke confrontations with the ra n ks of Mexican pol ice on the other s ide. They encouraged a l l the people present to sit down, send out our pol itica l messages, and b lock off the

60

entire a rea ta prevent agents provocateu rs from giving the impression that i t was violence that was bei ng a imed at.

The march was a powerful expression not on ly of excel lent arganisation and plann ing but of our ab i l ity to bu i ld u nity in action, and the pol itica l wisdom and sk i l l s that have been bu i l t u p i n the g lobal peoples movement duri ng many experiences al l over the world in recent years .

And we a re im mensely proud that our African people's organisations p layed a centra l ro le in the events in Cancun . Together with our welcome of the defeat of the p lans of the powerfu l countries in the WTO meet ing, we a lso note that African governments held firm to thei r positions. Some of them, inc luding the South African government, even remarked with pride that 'their' peoples organisations had p layed such a dynamic role on the outside.

Let us hold our governments to this recogn it ion of our people's organisations and achievements . Let us ensure that they engage with us and l i sten to our demands and advice when we a l l get back hame! Let us ensure that we bui ld on the victory in Cancun in the days ahead . As we a lways say "A Luta Conti n ua ! ! 1/

6 . 5 Cancun Conclave : A New Sunrise For Developing Countries By Benny Kuruv i l la , Peop les Reporter Vol 1 6, No: 1 8, Mumbai (September 25-0ctober 1 0 2003)

62

As t i red trade de legates and j ub i lant protestors left the Mexican resort of Cancun after the col lapse of the World Trade Organ isations 5th m i n isteria l conference (September 1 0- 1 4 , 2003) i t s igna led an important sh ift i n power equations i n the 1 48 member organi sation . When a massive grouping of African , Asian , Caribbean and Least developed countries refused to kowtow the d iktats of the E U (European U nion) a n d the U S, lead ing to the breakdown of tal ks o n the last day, the s ign ificance of th is comb ined act of defiance was not lost to many. The World Bank ch ief James Wolfensohn said the Cancun a l l i ance marked the creation of a 1/ new paradigm in g lobal financ ia l relat ions for the 2 1 sl century" that empowers developing countries aga inst the rich industri a l nations . Developing countries, compris i ng two th i rds of the organ isations membersh ip , led the show at Cancun , puttin g aside s ign ificant d ifferences to form strong a l l i ances (wh ich to the su rprise of many stood the test of t ime and pressu re) a nd submitted well researched a nd techn ica l ly sound negotiating proposals .

From Doha to Cancun : Trade m in isters make u p the h ighest decision making body of the

WTO a nd a re expected to meet at least once every two years; Cancun was the fifth in the series of m i nisteria l meetings that began with the 1 996 S ingapore m in i steria l . After the fa i l u re of the 1 999 Seattle m i nisteria l , the 200 1 Doha m i n isteria l succeeded in launch i ng a n amb itious work programme ca l led the Doha Development Agenda. Though developing countries were rel uctant to launch a new round of complex negotiations, Robert Zoe l l ick, the Un ited States Trade Representative and the European Trade Commissioner Pasca l Lamy s uccessfu l ly used the sympathy wave post the September 2001 terrorist attacks to successful ly argue that the fai l u re to advance trade negotiations in Doha wou ld be a boost to terrorism . Doha mandated key negotiations on Agriculture, Services and TRIPS (Agreement on Trade related aspects of I n te l lectua l Property Rights)

Cancun was to mark an i mportant stop on the road to completi ng the a mbitious Doha rou nd of negotiations, wh ich supposedly put · development at the core of its agenda . But i n the path from Doha to Cancun, negotiators i n Geneva (at the WTO headquarters) m issed every major deadl ine . By fai l i ng to make adequate progress on i ssues

the developing countries bel ieved constituted a genu ine development round what was 0 routine fue l l i ng station beca me a landmine.

The Hypocrisy: The question of agricu ltura l reform was the most contentious issue

at Cancun . It is now well documented that whi le developing countries made substantive l ibera l isation com mitments, farm subsid ies in the EU and the US have actua l ly i ncreased s ince the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture came i nto effect. Economists at t he UNDP (Un ited Nations Deve lopment Programme) recently estimated that wh i le the EU provides a dai ly subsidy of US $ 2 . 7 per cow, ha lf of I nd ia's population l ive on less than $ 2 a day. This hypocrisy a l lows countries l i ke the EU to both protect its farm sector and dump its subsidised products in developing country markets . Not surprising ly the remova l of qua ntitative restrictions i n Apri l 200 1 (fol low ing WTO stipu lations) in agricultura l commodities has been devastating for I ndia's smal l farmers . Before Cancun, the European Un ion and the Un ited States set u p a common negotiating framework to revive the sta l led ta l ks on agricultura l l ibera l isation. Developing countries immediately responded by critiqu ing it as fa i l ing on a l l th ree counts of reducing domestic support, improvi ng market access for developing countries a nd phasing out export subsid ies. Furthe r they formed the G-22, which com prised severo I leading deve loping countries such as China, I nd ia, Brazi l , Argentina a nd South Africa , and submitted a counter proposa l for agricu lturo l reform as opposed to the paper submitted by the EU and the US.

Addressing a packed press conference on the open i ng day of the min isteria l Brazi l ia n min i ster Celso Amorim speaking on beha lf of the g roup, emphasised that their cause was a just one as they represented 50% of the world's popu lation and over 65% of fa rmers .

A g roup of fou r Western and Centra l African countries (Burk ino Faso, Chad, Ben i n and Mal i ) a lso submitted a wel l -crafted joint in itiative on Cotton ca l l i ng for the tota l e l imi nation of cotton subsidies by developed cou ntries and financia l compensation for lost income whi le the subsidies were being phased out. Cotton growers a re among the most heavi ly subsid ised fa rmers in the US, receiving more than $3 bi l l ion a year in subs id ies, according to the World Bank.

S i nga pore issues : Another potentia l battle loomed i n Cancun over what i s termed a s

the four S ingapore issues. S ince the 1 996 Singapore m inisteria l the E U and other developed countries have been trying to create new WTO ru les on : I nvestment, Competition policy, Government procu rement and trade faci l itation . S ince then developing countries have

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consistently opposed the creation of a new set of complex agreements on these issues. At the 2001 Doha m inisteria l I nd ia's then Commerce Min ister Murasol i Maran was widely credited with ensuring that any decision wou ld need to be taken by 'exp l icit consensus' from a l l member countries o f the WTO a t the Cancun m in iste rial . On the second day of the conference, in a defiant show of strength, a group of 70 developing countries he ld a press conference reite rating their opposition to the launch of a new round of negotiations on the S ingapore issues. The Malays ian Min ister for I nternational Trade and I ndustry Rafidah Aziz and I nd ian Commerce Min ister Arun Ja it ley even forma l ly presented a letter on beha lf of these countries to the fac i l itator of the working g roup on Singapore issues stating that the darificatory process i n Geneva should conti nue ,

Fundamenta l ly flawed : It was expected that the un ited and professiona l a pproach of the

developing countries wou ld be reflected in the d raft, which would form the basis for the Cancun Min isteria l decla ration, But the document rel eased on 1 3 September by the fac i l itators of the five working g roups was fundamenta l ly flawed; it showed that the views expressed by the EU and US on v irtua l ly al l issues preva i led.

On agricu ltural reform, the draft through a means of cyn ical l ega l jugg lery a l lowed the EU and the US to continue with their domestic subsid ies by s imply sh ifting them from the trade distorting section to the non- trade-d istorting one. On the issue of market access the developing countries were subjected to even more tariff reductions. On the crucial i ssue of e l im ination of export subsid ies provided by developed countries there was no date mentioned for their e l im ination, Addressi ng the press immed iately a fter h i s forma l response to the d raft at the Heads of Delegation meeting Mr. Arun Ja itley d id not h ide h is disappointment/' I nstead of be ing sensitive to the concerns of developing a nd least developed countries th is d raft i nd icates that the specia l and d iffere ntia l treatment in favour of developed countries has been a l lowed to contin ue",

Even the cotton in itiative, which received overwhe lm ing support from both developed and developing countries, was ignored.

Fina l Col la pse: The most b itterly contested i nsertion i n the new draft was the

proposal to l aunch negotiations on three of the S ingapore issues, i n particular o n the h igh ly controversia l issue of I nvestment.

Ministers then entered i nto the fina l lap of round the c lock negotiations i n a n attempt to find enough common ground to avert

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tota l fa i l u re . But Asian and African countries were determi ned to hold onto their pri ncip led positions and the meeting fina l ly col lapsed during the fina l session on 1 4 September when the EU and the US contin ued to push a d raft that did not g ive anything mean ingful on agricultu re but mandated negotiations on three of the S ingapore issues.

Undemocratic: Speaking to the press after the col lapse Ugandan delegate Yash

Tandon was furious, liThe assumption made by the EU and the US was that with i n about two or three days they can j ust carry out rapid decis ions for everybody. They wanted a text passed that was profoundly biased - The process of arriv ing at this draft has been opaque and undemocratic - this text i s unacceptable to us because i t condemns m i l l ions of Africans to perpetua l u nderdeve lopment and a bject poverty" .

"We are i ndeed d isappointed with th i s resu lt. The Caribbean countries came u nited to Cancun with a very positive agenda to get a fa ir deal for our farmers. Nothing was offered to us . Nea rly 70 countries said they were u nwi l l i ng to launch negotiations on the Singapore issues i .e . there was no expl icit consensus. Despite this, the draft we were d iscussing th is morn ing mandated negatiations on three of them . I cannot u nderstand how issues not on the agenda can take precedence. The way the WTO is managed leaves a lot to be desired," said M inister George of Sai nt Lucia speaking on behalf of the Caribbean countries.

A victory for the developing world : Addressing the press the Ind ian Commerce m in i ster Arun Ja itley

said, /I Success cannot be j udged on the ab i l ity of getting or not getting a declaration . The fact that the m inisteria l d id not pass a statement that d id not enjoy a consensus is i ndeed a victory for the developing world . The d raft text c lea rly d id not reflect t he aspi rations o f the developing and LDCs".

I nstead of the Min isteria l decla ration that would have mandated a work p rogramme a nd set deadl ines for completion of negotiations the m in isters issued a one-page statement admitting fa i lure and their resolve to go back to Geneva and try to i ron aut d ifferences.

A watershed : S uccess at Cancun wou ld have meant a mockery of both

developing countries and the so-ca l led Doha development agenda. Cancun's b lockade does not mean the end of the road e ither for the

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WTO or for the Doha round or for the dominant neo- l ibera l parad igm that governs i nternationa l trade today. But Cancu n wi l l rema in a watershed i n the h istory of the WTO; it marks a new dynamic to the organ isation , standing as a usefu l rem i nder to the EU and the US that the views of developing countries ca n no longer be ignored .

6 . 6 Crisis of the WTO System: Chance for the Underprivileged and Marginalized? Brita Neuhold and Maria Karadeniz l i , WIDE-/IGTN Eu rope

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The 5th WTO Ministeria l Conference d ramatica l l y col lapsed in the afternoon of September 1 4th a fter unb ridgeab le disag reement between Northern and Southern countries on the so-ca l led Si ngapore issues and on ag ricu lture. The coal it ions of develop ing countries which had been bu i lt up duri ng the conference stood f i rm unt i l the end - despite heavy pressure exerted upon them by the rich nations, above a l l the Un ited States and the Eu rapean Un ion . The developing countries pronounced a clear NO to the authoritar ian procedu res of the WrO model led after a bsolute monarchies of former centuries and the g lobal isation of an economic model which favours exclus ively the rich nations a nd Transnational Corporations . In rare unan im ity they rejected the WTO Draft Min isteria l Text which in the most provocative manner ignored the resolve of more than 70 countries not to enter into negotiations on the S ingapore Issues and which also overlooked the clear and detai led proposa ls of the "Group of 20+ ," a n a l l i ance under the leadersh ip of Brazi l , Ind ia , China and South Africa i n the a rea of ag ricu lture and of the African , Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) g roup as wel l as of West African Least Developed Countries and of other groups on spedfic issues.

I ndig n ation a nd Resistance The Min isteria l text which, a l l i n a l l , was strong on corporate­

oriented economic g rowth and extremely weak on development and environmental susta i na bi l ity, infu riated Southern countries a nd sparked statements of rare, a lmost b lunt d i rectness : For example the I nd ian Delegate referred to the mid-term review of the Doha Deve lopment Agenda as a "further deve lopment of the developed countries."

One of the most a rt iculate comments came from the representative of Antigua and Barbuda who stated : "Were we to

accept this document, we would deserve our people's condemnation for we wou ld not only have gained no rel ief for them, but we wou ld have condemned them to a l ife of perpetua l u nderdevelopment. "

This remark set the stage for fierce opposition from Southern countries which were strong ly supported by NGOs and other civi l society groups . I n particu lar, the proposed procedure on the S ingapore issues was seen as a provocation, especia l l y by those Southern delegates who had been involved i n the WTO working g roup on New Issues and coul d not recogn ise their positions i n the fina l d raft. Thus, the confere nce c l imate was at boi l i ng poi nt when Green Room ta lks for approximately 30 countries opened i n the morn i ng of Septem ber 1 4th, the focus shifting immed iately to the S ingapore issues item .

Resistance by Kenya , which spoke on behalf of the ACP countries, and by I ndia was so fierce walkout by delegates from developing countries seemed possib le as the Kenyan delegate said that he wou ld no longer take part i n the session - that i t soon became obvious that no consensus cou ld be reached . Decid i ng that negotiations had reached a dead lock which appeared i nsurmountable, Mexican Fore ign M in ister Derbez decided to c lose the conference before ta lks on agriculture had even been opened.

New Power Structures a nd Memories from the Past

Despite the i r fears that, after this breakdown, the Doha Development Agenda mig ht even be more d ifficult to rea l ise, Southern countries felt that they had achieved un ity and had confronted the trade pol icies of powerfu l nations and questioned the u ndemocratic WTO structure . Th is event, in fact, reca l l s memories of the 1 970s when Th ird World countries stood up aga inst the North in the ir strugg le for a j ust New I nternational Economic Order a nd for the rig ht to development. At that time, they fought for their demands at U NCTAD conferences which then en joyed the same pub l ic attention and media i nterest as WTO conferences today. Mr. Celso Amorim, the Fore ign Min ister of Brazi l l [21 a nd speaker of t he Group of 20+, expressed the fee l i ngs of many when he said that "We wal k away from the process stronger than we entered itl " His words of g ratitude to the NGOs to which, according to h im, the world should l isten, were shared and suppo rted by many other Southern delegates. They felt that the sol idarity expressed by the NGO commun ity a nd by civ i l SOCiety i n genera l i n numerous declarations, briefing papers, press releases, meetings, impressive demonstrations, and personal encouragement,

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had been a strong sh ie ld aga inst the ca l lous, and sometimes even contemptuous, behaviour by the representatives of rich countries.

The reaction of the European Un ion wh ich, throughout the negotiations, had not shown much understanding of the demands and needs of the developing world , and i nstead had addressed b lu nt th reats to many of these countries- i n particu lar to the ACP Group­was one of shock and surprise. It termed the outcome a " big mistake" made by developing countries. There was no ana lysis whatsoever of the fact that it was partly because of EU persistence in pursu ing the i n itiation of negotiations on the S ingapore issues that the negotiations had col lapsed . Trade Commissioner Pasca l Lamy, who cou ld hard ly conceal h is anger, heavi ly criticised the WTO as "medieva l" and its pri nciple of consensus as "outdated ." But there were a lso European delegates, who held the undemocratic p rocedu res of the WTO

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responsible for the d isaster. For instance, Belgi um advocated for a stronger role for U NCTAD i n i nternational trade pol icies of the future . Th i s is o n i nd i cation o f the d ivergence of views o f EU member states i n different a reas, which a re norma l ly wel l h idden beh ind the col lective EC position.

Civi l Society on the move I nternational NGOs and networks formed a strong a l l iance

among themselves, co-ord i nating their actions and issu ing i n-depth i nformation on their activities and on the topics and issues at stoke. Prominently among them figured Our World is not for Sale (OWI NFS) , Th ird World Network (TWN), I nternational Gender and Trade Network ( lGTN), Women Environment Development O rganisation (WE DO), Association on Women's Rights in Development (AWID) , Women's Edge Coalition, Southern and Eastern African Trade, I nformation and Negotiation (SEAT IN I ) , South Asian Civ i l Society Network i n I nternational Trade (SACSN ITI ) , I nternational Centre for Trade and Susta inable Development ( ICTSDL Centre of Research on Multinationa l Corporations (SOMO), Food First I nformation and Action Network (FIAN), I nternationa l Center for Cultura l D ivers ity ( lCCD), Green Peace, World Wi ld l ife Fund (WWF) , Friends of the Earth, Publ ic Citizen, Action Aid, I nternational Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development ( ICHRDD), and Center for I nternationa l Environmenta l Low (CI E L) .

They warned against the negative effects o f the WTO a n d profit­oriented g rowth and g lobal i sotion 01'1 the world's poor, above a l l on women and ch i ldren, and a rg ued for the urgent need for a radical reform of the WTO system based on the development of ecological ly­susta inab le, gender-sensitive and human rig hts-oriented trade policies. They expressed thei r concern at the destruction and exploitation of nature and the environment by the WTO's trade-re lated i ntel lectual property pol icies and they cam paigned for the priority of h uman and environmenta l rights over trade agreements a nd submitted a Declaration on the Right to Food .

They organ ised workshops, briefings, working groups, and press conferences, del ivered statements and declarations and met with delegations of WTO member states and fol lowed the offic ia l negotiations at the Convention Centre. They were jo ined by thousands of people in impressive demonstrations, protest ing against the i ntrans igence of the WTO Secretariat, the U.S. and the EU, and took port i n caucuses a l l over the town .

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Un l i ke Seattle or other i nternationa l meetings on trade and economics l ike those he ld i n Geneva, Cancun proved to be - with some exceptions - a peacefu l event with the police showing tolera nce and understanding for socia l resistance.

Gender and women-focused NGOs were a l so very v is ib le in Cancun . In a two-day i nternationa l forum entitled "Women on the Road to Cancun - Rights of Women in Trade Agreements, " feminist economists, gender and trade ana lysts, a nd women's advocates ana lysed WTO pol icies from a gender and human rig hts perspective and drew attention to the situation of women in the context of existing and emerg ing WTO agreements in the a reas of agricu lture, i ntel lectua l property rights, services, a n d i nvestment. At the end o f the forum a Political Declaration on the Rights of Women i n Trade Agreements was publ ished and widely d istributed among civil society a nd government offic ia ls . During the WTO conference itself strategy bU i ld ing sessions and exchanges of information among women NGOs and networks were successfu l ly co-coordinated by the I nternationa l Gender and Trade Network ( IGTN) . Variou s seminars on gender and economic issues were organ ised by IGTN, Heinrich B611 and Friedrich E bert Stiftung, and a women's caucus that was co-coord i nated by Mexican women N GOs, AWI D, Women's EDGE Coal ition, and WEDO and open to a broader pub l i c took place dai ly i n the centre of the city.

Beyond Ca ncu n The ana lysis of the process and the outcome of Cancun and

predictions for the futu re a re , of cou rse, not so easy. On the one hand, fears that crucia l concerns of Southern countries a bout development, ecolog ica l susta inab i l ity, poverty e radication , and gender j ustice wi l l be overridden and the few ga ins of the Doha Round w i l l be lost, a re j ustified . I ndeed, the reaction of EU delegates i nd icated such hard- l ine policies.

Moreover the threats of U.S. offic ia ls and corporate representatives to bypass the WTO and rea l ise their aspirations elsewhere m ust be taken seriously and would resu lt in even greater losses for the world's poor a nd for the internationa l environment. On the other hand, Southern countries and the N GOs not on ly stated that "No deal i s better than a bad -dea ! ! " but ha i led the col la pse of a very s inister process as proof of the new strength of the underprivi leged . The I nternational Gender and Trade Network expressed the genera l feel i ng by stating that the "co l lapse i n Cancun represents a ma jor pol itica l shift i n the power dynam ics of the WTO with the developing countries successful ly resisting power in the face of extreme pressure and bul ly ing."

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Negotiations wi l l now be continued at a lower sca le i n Geneva, where it is anticipated that an extraord inary pol icy session wi l l take place in 2004 . Whether a nother m inisteria l wi l l be convened in 2005 in Hong Kong is u ncerta in . Much depends now on how Southern countries can make the i r newly gained weight felt in these processes. NGOs wi l l continue to support them in these endeavours and wi l l strugg le for thorough reforms of the WTO i n order to guarantee transparency and democracy withi n the world trading system whi le l imiting its agenda to trade issues. Only under these cond itions can human rights, socia l a nd gender justice, as wel l as sustainab le l ive l ihoods for a l l be safeguarded.

For more information on WIDE, please visit: http://www BlJrosurorw'wide,

6 . 7 Cancun Fai lure: Africa Showed The Way By Devinder Sharma*

Amidst a lot of d rama, the WTO Cancun Ministeria l has fa i led. The underdogs of economic development - the African b lock - have bai led out the developing world from being economica l ly robbed . And , once again , the countries, which have continuously been painted to be in the 'Dark Age', have stood up as a solid block to brighten the future of bi l l ions of toi l ing masses in the l1)ajority world .

The wal kout by the smal ler African countries, led by Kenya, and fol lowed by some Caribbean nations on the contentious Singapore issues - the fou r new issues of investment, competition policy, government procurement and faci l itation - which the Un ited States, Eu ropean Union and Japan were pushing in aggressively, has actual ly fa i led the Cancun Ministeria l . The Singapore issues were a imed at s impl ifying cross-border traffic a nd increase competition and market access for multinationals . The wal kout by the Africans, the second time in the h istory of the WTO, clearly demonstrates that there is more to the WTO than merely p laying to media ga l lery.

First in SeaHle in 1 999 and then in Cancun 2003, the Africans a nd the Caribbean have emerged as the rea l heroes. The fa i l u re of the WTO Ministerial at SeaHle and now at Cancun is the d irect outcome of the African's frustration and their wi l l ingness to stand to the mightiest. Kenya deserves the salute - jo j ita wohi s ikandar. And so do thousands of fa rmers, activists, and protestors who continued to raise

7 1

their voice ten k i lometres away from the offic ia l venue of the Min isteria l ta l ks . The supreme sacrifice by the 56- yea r-old Korean farmer, Lee Kyu ng-hae, w i l l rema in embedded i n the h i story of the mu lt i latera l trade regime as a tra gic symbol of the destructive fal lout of the so-cal led free trade process.

The G-23 (as the coa l it ion of Ind ia , Brazi l and Ch ina a long with 20 other countries i s ca l led) i n contrast, only roa red . L ike the street dogs that chase any speeding car, they continued to bark and then s it back demurely. I nd ia's commerce m i nister, Arun Ja itley, who used the un ique opportunity to pose h imself as the champion of the farmers cause, too had g iven i n the f inal stages. Neither d id Ind ia, nor the other two g iants - Ch ina and B razi l - staged a wal k out i n protest. The d raft c i rcu lated a day before had only cal led for an end to export subsidies on farm products of specia l interest to developing countries, but was for short of the e l im ination of a l l s ubs id ies as demanded by the G-23 g roup of developing nations.

Notwithstand i ng the i r tough postures outs ide and before the f ina l moments, the fai l u re of the G-23 to stand up and be counted had in rea l ity l ed towards a compromise formula l inking the phase out of agricu ltural export subsid ies with the unbundl ing of the Singapore issues, mean ing getting started on at least two of these i f not a l l the fou r sectors. Except for expressing displeasure, which means noth i ng i n the trade ta l ks, the G-23 f ina l l y had wagged the tai l . I nd ia, Ch ina, Malaysia and Indonesia, besides the EU and some developed countries, were locked in i ntense g reen room d iscussions i n the fina l stages to reach a compromise.

What happened at Cancun is remin iscent of the a bsence of 'ki l ler i nstinct' that continues to p lague the I nd ian society. Whether it i s athl et ics, hockey or cricket, many a times I nd ia has done remarkably wel l in the i nternationa l tournaments t i l l it reaches the semi-f ina ls and the fina ls . How many times can one remember the times when the nation sat g lued to the televis ion, l itera l ly on tenterhooks, watch ing the nai l-biting fin ish, only to see the I nd ian team buckl ing under pressure . I n pol itics, and more so i n trade d ip lomacy, I nd ia continues to g ive a repeat performance. At 200 1 Doha Ministerial too, the then Commerce Minister Murasol i Maran , fought a lone aga inst the inequa l ities being perpetuated by the g loba l trade reg ime. A phone ca l l from the Prime Min ister at the na i l -b iting stage, and he had to g ive in to the manipu lative des igns of the rich and developed countries.

Once again, India fa ltered at its moment of crowning g lory. Let us be very clear, Cancun Ministeria l fai led because of investment i ssues and not agricu lture. The G-23 d id not stage a walkout i n anger

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agai nst the g la ri ng i nequal ities present i n the fina l m inisteria l draft. If it were not for the African countries, Aru n Ja itely wou ld have returned home empty handed . H is mandate, ostensibly with an eye on the ensuing e lections, was to cater to the votes of the domestic e lectorate. I n that sense, he did remarkably wel l . But if one were to see the a pproach of the BJP-Ied Coa lit ion, it had a l l these years worked just on an opposite format to what it tried to project at Cancu n .

Th i s does not however u ndermine the effort of t he G-23 and the G- 1 6 (on special a nd d ifferentia l treatment) countries to speak out. There is no denying that the G-23 countries did manage to create a world opin ion against agricu ltu re subsid ies that the rich countries­form ing the Organ isation for Economic Cooperation and Deve lopment (OECD)- bestow on its mini scu le population of fa rmers. In fact, these subsidies - tota l l ing US $ 3 1 1 bi l l ion-are actua l ly benefiting food and ag ricultura l com panies i n the name of farmers. These subsidies depress g lobal farm prices a nd enable the developed countries to dump cheaper foodgra ins in the developing countries, thereby cr ippl ing the l ive l i hoods of m i l l ions of smal l a nd marg i na l farmers i n the developing world .

What is a lso s ign ificant is that the debate Cancun Min isteria l generated, for t he fi rst t ime acknowledged that a l l subsidies were detrimenta l and trade distorting . Earl ier, economists, pol icy makers, and many western NGOs ( in association with their developing cou ntry partners) and the m inisters had al l a long found fau lt with the export subsid ies but defended the domestic support a nd the g reen box subsidies. It a lso exposed the p rotection that the WTO provided to the rich country agriculture by way of specia l safeguards, h igher tariffs a nd other non-ta riff measures. At the same time, it puts to shame the relentless cam pa ign by some organisations a nd indiv iduals, i nc lud ing a section of the Confederation of Ind ian I ndustry (CI I) , wh ich was for paving the path for an unh i ndered entry of m u ltinationals with a l l the state protect ion for them.

, Devinder Sharma choirs the New Delhi.based Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security.

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6 .8 A Turn i ng Poi nt for World Trade? John Cavanagh (with Rob in BroadL The Ba ltimore Sun , 1 8 September 2003

WORLD �naGANIZATION ..,..p..\<tO,E \<.

A generation from now, ana lysts may look back at the World Trade Organ ization summit i n Mexico as a turn ing point in the i ncreasing ly contentious g lobal ization debate.

Why? Because for the first time i n decades of g loba l ization negotiations, democracy trumped na rrow el ite inte rests.

I nd ia , B razi l , Ch ina and nearly two dozen other poor nations, representi ng more than ha lf of the g lobe's popu lation, negotiated as a b loc. With backing from a wide a rray of citizen g rou ps, they rejected the meeti ng's fina l text, wh ich, as usua l , was crafted to address the corporate i nterests of richer nations. I n short, the many dera i led a trade agenda for the few.

A number of these poor countries, wh ich came to be known as the Group of 2 1 , were respond ing to strong campaigns from citizen g roups in their countries for a d ra matic sh ift i n the g lobal ization agenda . The two of us spent the summer crisscrossi ng one of these nations, the Ph i l ipp ines, as sma l l -sca le farmers, workers a nd a nti- poverty activists pressed their government to stand up for their i nterests at the WTO summit.

Their message to the Ph i l i pp ine government was s imple, a nd it was a imed at the heart of the WTO agenda :

Don't let Carg i l l and other g ia nt ag ri business firms from rich nations use thei r government's lavish farm subsid ies to dump their corn , r ice and wheat on our markets at low prices that d isplace m i l l ions of peasant fa rmers .

I n the era of Enron and WoridCom, don't g ive in to U .S . government and corporate demands that vita l pub l ic services such as hea lth care, education and water be offered for sale to those same g lobal f irms .

Don't agree to new negotiations that wi l l further handcuff governments' a bi l ity to choose to steer i ncentives away from fore ign firms toward smal ler, loca l ly based domestic f irms. We met with these F i l ip ino activists agai n at the Mexican WTO summit as they were joined by an estimated 1 0,000 to 20,000 protesters from across Mexico and the rest of the world . Ba rricades manned by thousa nds of Mexican pol ice prevented most of the protesters from getting with i n m i les of their government' s negotiators, who were holed up in some o� \he world's

most l uxurious hotel s to d i scuss what WTO negotiators brazen ly cal led a "development agenda ."

Deeply frustrated by the meta l barricades and the unfai r ru les they protected, a South Korean farmer, Lee Kyung Hae, p l unged a kn i fe i nto h i s chest on the meetings' open ing day.

Mr. Lee took h i s l i fe to dramatize, in h is own words, that "mu lt inational corporations and a sma l l number of big WTO membe rs offic ia ls a re leading an undes ira ble g lobal ization [that is] i nhumane, environmenta l ly d istorting, fa rmer-ki l l i ng and undemocratic ."

H is su icide note lamented the dumping of subsidized food in poorer countries such as South Korea by g lobal corporations based in wea lth ier countries. He asked for a g lobal trade system that wou ld a l low poor countries to offer adequate protection to their farmers .

The f lashpoint of the WTO meeting was agricu ltu re, but the democratic revolt was a bout fa r more. The developing countries' negotiators in the su ites and protesters in the streets were reject ing the "one-size-fits -a l l " development model of the WTO that is a rel ic of the bygone Reagan era . F inancier George Soros characterizes that model as "market fundamenta l ism . "

By dera i l i ng the fa i led g lobal ization agenda of the WTO, these poor countries and an i ncreas ing ly restless g lobal pub l ic a re not reject ing the necessity of g loba l rules on trade a nd i nvestment. To the contra ry, proposa l s a bound for replaci ng the obsolete WTO approach with fa i re r ru les a nd institutions .

For exa mple, citizen leaders u nder the auspices of the I nternationa l Forum on Globa l ization have p roposed rules that would a l low governments to put leg itimate checks a nd balances on trade and i nvestment to meet nationa l goa l s - so Mexico cou ld protect its corn farmers and South Korea and Japan cou ld protect the i r rice farmers as vita l to their cu lture . Such new rules would sh ift the priority from i ncreas ing trade a nd investment at a l l costs to creating a framework that steers these economic flows to bui ld healthy commun ities, d ignified work and a clean environment.

Now the rea l debate beg ins .

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6 . 9 The Mea n i ng of Cancun S .p. Shukla

S P Shukla i s the conveno r o f the

Indian People's Campaign a g a inst

the WTO and was former Indian

ambassador to the GATT

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Cancun d id not exist on the map of Mexico only three decades ago. It was constructed l itera l ly out of noth ing on a beach on the south-eastern t ip of Mexico for the indu lgence of the rich American tou rists. But it is a name not unfami l i a r to those who have been keeping track of the long and chequered h i story of the North -South d ia logue. Cancun was in the news once before. And it was bad news for the South . It was at Cancu n in 1 98 1 that Rona ld Reagan fina l ly bu ried the North -South d ia log ue of the 1 970s.

What does the recent news from Cancun portend for the South ? For I nd ia? Let us fi rst get the facts clea r. The WTO min i steria l meeting at Cancun was a mid-term meeting of the Doha Round launched in November,200 1 .The break-down of the Cancun meeting does not s ign ify the b reak-down of the Doha round . I n the past too, m id-term m i n iste ria l meetings have foundered, ego The Montreal m in isteria l meeting i n December 1 988 wh ich was the mid-term min i steria l of the U ruguay Round launched in September 1 986. It b roke down as there was no agreement on Agricu ltu re, TRI PS, Texti les and Safeguards. The tussle on Agricu lture was then ma in ly between EEC and the Cai rns Group countries. The resistance on the other three issues was essentia l ly p ut up by I nd ia and Brazi l . But the space so obta i ned by preventi ng u nfavoura ble decisions i n these a reas i n Montreal was soon lost as the Government of India succumbed to the b i latera l pressures, ma in ly from USA; withd rew its opposition; and agreed, i n Apri l 1 989, to b ri ng i ng i n the s ubstantive aspects o f i nte l lectua l p roperty rights with i n the scope o f the negotiations. That s igna led not on ly the parad igm change for the GATT system but a lso the end of the sol idarity of the South strenuously bu i lt over the years under the leadersh ip of I nd ia and Braz i l . The seed of the a l l -embracing and coercive WTO system that emerged i n 1 995 was sown i n Apri l 1 989, i ron ica l ly, soon after, a nd in spite of I the successful manoeuvre at the Montreal meeting to win space for the susta i ned fig ht to resist such an outcome !

The "Statement" adopted by the m in isters i n the wrap- up session of the Cancun meeting i s vag ue on the exact stage of negotiations reached at Cancu n a nd the d irection of further work to be done. It merely ca l l s for "more work . . . to be done in some key a reas to enable us to proceed toward the conc lus ion of the negotiations ."

Having fa i led themselves to resolve the deadlock, the Ministers have now instructed their subord inate officia ls and the Director -Genera l of WTO to continue worki ng on the outstand ing issues ! A specific date i .e . 1 5th December 2003 has been ind icated by which a meeting of the Genera l Counci l of WTO has to be convened at the officia l leve l . The Statement adds: /I We wi l l bri ng with us into this new phase a l l the

va l uab le work that has been done at this Conference . In those a reas where we have reached a h igh level of convergence on texts, we undertake to mainta in th is convergence whi le worki ng for a n acceptable overa l l outcome. Notwithstanding this setback, we reaffirm a l l ou r Doha Declarations and Decisions and recommit ourselves to working to implement them fu l ly and fa ithfu l ly." 2

It is a l l very wel l to sound positive in the face of a clear deadlock. But where does it leave the process of negotiations? The pa l pab le and repeated ly stated differences leave unbridgeab le gaps i n the crucia l areas of Agricu ltu re I the Singapore I ssues and Non -Agricu ltu re Market Access . Where then is " a h igh degree of convergence of texts" ? Is it to be presumed that there was nea r-agreement, beh ind the scenes ,on issues l i ke Services, Specia l and Different ia l Treatment and I mplementation? And what were the contents of such agreement? This becomes important because the stated positions spoke of large d ifferences on these issues too.

There is a feel ing of some rel ief that the deadlock at Cancun has kept the S ingapore issues at bay , confin ing them to the clarification process which commenced at Doha two years ago. But one m ust not forget that the Doha Decla ration clearly "recognizes the case for a mu lti latera l framework" for a l l the new issues and the last two years have witnessed del iberations on the new issues which have verged on negotiations. Moreover, the strong opposition put forward by the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries , the least deve loped countries and some others I to negotiations proper being launched on these issue has been mainly on the ground that they wanted the clarification p rocess to continue. And there a re reports that I nd ia was not averse to a " compromise" by agreeing to la unching negotiations on two of the Singapore I ssues viz; "Government Procurement " and : "Trade Facil itation" whi le asking for conti nuation of the cla rificatory process on the remain ing issues of " I nvestment" and " Trade faci l itation" . The fact of the matter is that the Doha legacy of a l lowing the bridgehead for fu rther attack by the developed countries and their mu ltinationals on our autonomy of pol icy-making is very much a l ive and the deadlock in Cancun by itself is not enough to avert that ons laught.

7 7

" I

. , i , .i

The other areo of deep d ivisions at Cancun was the issue of Agricu lture . Not too long ago, the advocates and apologists of WTO (and the Agreement on Agriculture which was its i nteg ra l part) had created i l l usions about enormous prospects for agricu ltura l exports. The actua l operation of the Agreement on Agriculture, combined with the impact of the so- ca l led economic reforms, over the last few years, has left no doubt i n the m i nds of our peasantry a nd fa rmers that, for them , there is l ittl e to ga in and m uch to lose, i n the WTO regime. The unprecedented d i stress which our agricultu re is experiencing i s not admitted by our Government. But the swe l l i ng d iscontent i n the rura l h i nterland on th is account has not escaped at least some sections in the ru l i ng establ ishment. That exp la ins the Government stance of strong critic ism' of the domestic support and export subsidy reg imes of EU and USA. And the consequent role the Ind ian Delegation has p layed in contributi ng to the emergence and sol ida rity o f G-2 1 i n t he Cancun context. Bu t here too, the Government is u nder the i l l us ion that emphasis on reduction i n domestic support and subsidies of E U and USA may provide them enough room to continue with adequate level of ta riffs to protect the i nterests of the I nd ian peasantry. The latest d raft on the tab le at Cancun presented by the Chai rman of the meeti ng not on ly was soft on both E U a n USA i n regard to their reg imes of support and subsid ies but a lso left no doubt whatsoever that the markets of populous countries l i ke Ind ia and Ch i na were the ma in focus of the market- access area of negotiations. The proposals contai ned provisions to reduce tariffs in develop ing countries substantia l ly and at a faster rate. Not only that. They conta i ned a provis ion to bind a designated number of ta riff l i nes to as low level of tariff as between 0 and 5 % ! There is the real danger to our agriculture . And nothing short of recla im ing and asserting the unqua l ified right to impose quantitative restrictions on agriculture imports can save our agricu lture and the l ivel i hood of the seventy percent of our peoples. Government of I nd ia's stand is long on rhetoric about what EU and USA must do a bout the support and subsid ies they g ive to the i r agricultu re . Bu t ou r Government i s tota l ly s i lent on t he vita l issue of the q uantitative restrict ions, a right that it has to cla im a nd exercise i n the i nterest of our peasantry and people .

S im i larly, Government has not opposed the formulations in the latest d raft declaration at Cancun on Services where the a im of the negotiations was sought to be reduced simply to /I progressively h ig her levels of l i bera l i sation" of services sectors whi le the Genera l Agreement on Trade i n Services itself unambigously a n d expl icitly recogn ises the development d imension . It has not a lso expressed itself

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agai nst the supply of services l i ke Health, Education, Water Supply etc wh ich constitute basic h uman rights, being commodified i n the name of l i be ra l i sation .

The danger is that trade majors wi l l now resort to the b i lateral processes to complete the unf in ished tasks of Cancun . Important members of G-2 1 as wel l as the ACP and other g roup ings wi l l be sub jected to pressu res and b landishments. As we have seen , there a re open ings ava i lab le and s ignals g iven to make such process poss ib le . And it is here that the sol idarity of the South w i l l be tested.

That the break-down of Cancun meeting has averted the immediate d isaster i n the a reas of ag ri cu lture and the S ingapore issues is a positive development. And a l l those in the cam p of the South( whether in the Conference ha l l or outSide) who brought it a bout deserve congratulations . The task now is to ensure that the space ga i ned at Cancun is not a l lowed to be frittered away in the next three months or so, when the b i latera l a rm-twisting wi l l be ram pant. In other words, no repeat of "Geneva Surrender 1/ of Apri l 1 989 should be a l lowed.

What a re the prospects of averti ng this danger? I n some respects the objective s ituation is perha ps more favourab le now tha n i n the spring of 1 989. Apri l 1 989 s ignified the end of the sol ida rity of the South. Cancun , on the contrary, has witnessed re-emergence of the sol idarity of the South , after a long i nterva l of good th i rteen yea rs . Al l those who were wish ing away the existence of South , ( i nc lud ing a section of i ntel lectua ls and .some governments i n the South , inc lud ing our own l ) and jumping for opportunist, issue- based coal it ions cutt ing across the real ity of the North -South d ivide, have received a rude shock. The leaders of the North have felt the sting acutely. Which exp la ins the reported outbu rsts of Pasca l Lamy, EU Trade Commiss ioner and Robert Zoe l l ick, USTR . Lamy cal led the processes in Cancun through which the majority of the developing countries found some voice as " medieva l " . liThe USTR Robert Zoel l ick, at h is press conference was a rrogant, and said : " If countries want to behave l i ke i n the UN and on ly make demands i nstead of negotiations making i nflammatory rhetoric then trade negotiations a re not poss ib le ./I He v i rtua l l y cursed the G 2 1 . . . "3

For the emerg ing sol idarity to survive and become stronger, it i s obvious that countries l i ke I nd ia , B razi l , Ch ina and South Africa have to band together i n evolving common strateg ies and not attempt to cut short-s ighted , bi lateral dea ls . For us in I nd ia, it is important to ensure through popu lar pressu re that the opportun ity offered by the

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i nterregnum is uti l ized by Government to further strengthen the stand on agricu lture a nd services as i ndicated earl ier. I n the spr ing of 1 989, the i ssue that the Americans were push ing for was i ntel lectua l property rights, a n esoteric a rea which then had l ittle potentia l for generating mass enthusiasm for resistance. Now i n the aftermath of Cancur1, it i s the opening of our markets for imports of agricu ltural p roducts that i s be ing sought by EU and U SA and th i s affects the very l ivel ihood of the majority of our people. Al ready there is resistance developing to the govern ment pol ic ies i n this a rea . And no government can afford to ignore it except at its own peri l . It is equa l ly important that the Government i s persuaded to g ive u p the ambigu ity in its stand on a l l the fou r S i ngapore issues. I f that happens, the Government wi l l have the backing of a truly national consensus supporting it i n WTO. This wi l l a l so augur wel l for the emerg ing sol idarity of the South . 1 and 2: Vide "Civil Society hails Cancun Failure" by C. Raghavan in SUNS BULLETIN NO. 54 1 9 DATED

1 6.9.03 :north·south development monitor(electronic edition), published by Third World Network, Geneva,

Chief Editor: C.Raghavan

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