A dossier o n 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 8
1.2 Singapore issues and Indian concerns - The Economic Times 11
1 .3 Time for transformation - George Monbiot 12
2 . 0 Prelude To Cancun
2.1 Why a derailed WTO ministerial is the best outcome for the south -Walden Bello 15
2.2 Press release - Indian people's campaign against the WTO 22
2.3 International civil society submission on the GATS 25
2.4 Press release Stop the GATS attack ( EQUATIONS and Focus on the Global 26
South - I ndia Programme)
3.0 News From The Conference
3.1 Press release: WTO and Democracy World Development Movement 29
3.2 Press release by civil society groups: Why Are We Protesting Today? 30
3.3 Mock memo on the 13 September draft ministerial text 32
3.4 Press release: African Parliamentarians denounce WTO manipulation 34
3.5 Press release: Reject the ministerial text - Indian People's Campaign against WTO 35
4.0 Agriculture
4.1 Biggest US growers pocket 71 % farm sops - Reuters 37
4.2 Mr. Lee Kyung Hoe 40
4.3 Indian farmers demonstrate against WTO 43
5.0 Official Documents
5.1 Letter to Pierre Pettigrew from Arun Jaitely and Rafidah Aziz 46
5.2 India's statement at the Heads of Delegation meeting 49
5.3 The Cancun Ministerial Statement 14 September 2003 51
6 . 0 Post Collapse
6.1 Via Campesina: We won in Cancun! The WTO was derailed 53
6.2 Indian people's campaign against WTO 56
6.3 Statement from the group of Caribbean countries 58
6.4 Africans in the forefront in Cancun 59
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 71
6.8 A turning point world trade -John Cavanagh 74
6.9 The meaning of Cancun - S.P.Shukla 76
Preface
The World Trade O rgan isation (WTO) the successor to the General
Agreement o n Trade a nd Tariffs (GATT) came i nto existence in January
1 995 after the U ruguay round of the GATT. Since its establishmentl
permane nt 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 ) setting the broad agenda for the process at
its Geneva headquarters. This powerful g lobal trade body sets up
legally e nforceable commercial rules for i nternatio nal trade i n Goods,
Agriculture, Intellectual property and Services like healthl water and
education .

The Fifth Ministerial of WTO held i n the Mexican tourist resort of

Cancun was the second Ministerial Meeting to d ramatically collapse
l
once again bringing i nto rel ief its deep institutional crisis. The
documents in this dossier are meant to g ive an insight i nto the actual
negotiations by prod ucing key statements by civi l society groups and
Trade m i nisters from developing countries.

In an instructive overview, Walden Bello predicts the col l apse of the

impending Cancun m i n isterial, and q uestions the key tenet that IItrade
liberali satio n promoted prosperity'l by citing a World Bank study from
the late 1 990s by M. Lundberg and L. Squire. The study n oted that the
"poor are far more vu lnerable to shifts i n relative international prices
and this vulnerability is mag n ified by the countryls openness to trade.
At least i n the short term globalisation appears to i ncrease both
l
poverty and i nequality'l. Swi m m in g against the general current of civil
society analyses o n the WTO, George Monbiot arg ues 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 a n
"overthrow" of the WTO but by using the forum to "overthrow the
power of the rich", a nd by instituti ona lizi ng meaningful safeg uards that
a llow only the "nice guys to survive" in world trade.

Against this backdrop, the I ndian People's Campaign Agai nst the
WTO (IPCAWTO) pre-Ca ncun statement on WTO a nd GATS
h ighlights the key issues i nvolved

• The WTO perspectives on a g riculture are "totally detrimental to the

interests of the vast majority of our people consisting of sma l l a nd
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 implications of the TRIPS ag reement with respect to
. bio-diversity, piracy of traditional knowledge a nd growing monopoly of
multinationa l (agro-chemical corporations) on seeds

• As contrasted to the Indian Commerce's Ministry's position that the

existing level of I ndian tariffs provided adeq uate "comfort" a nd
needed to be maintai ned, the IPCAWTO insisted on the "right to use
quantitative restrictions" since E U/US agricu ltural subsidies not only
were substantia l but were growi ng

I l lustrating the skewed nature of the process despite the rhetoric

a bout the "democratic" nature of the WTO, civil society g roups noted
that the "two richest delegations the EU a nd 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 resistant to the declared i ntention of

developed countries to make Cancun the site for negotiations on the
so-cal led "Singapore" issues. These concerns of developing countries
were a rticulated i n a note co-authored by the Mal aysia n a nd I ndian
Commerce Ministers, which pOi nted out the complexity of these issues,
the resource constraints, a nd the need for substa ntial a na lysis before
a ny commitments could 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 inclusion of the Sing a po re issues
without prior d iscussions. Southern delegations rejected the meeting's
final text, effectively dera i l i ng the ministerial .

The crucia l role of civil society g roups, for provid i ng critical inputs
through lobbying, i nforming a nd mobi l izing, was pu blicly recog nized
by Brazil's foreign minister a nd other Southern delegates. Via
Campesina, a g lobal coal ition of fa rmer's movements d isag reed with
the G-22's proposal s about agricu ltu ra l l ibera lization and i n creasing
market access, which serve to intensify the exclusion a nd poverty for
mil l ions in the South. Via Campesina specifical ly criticised d i rect
payments a nd income support for a g ro-ind ustry in the North that
facilitate d umping of a g ricultu ra l commod ities on the i nternationa l
market a n d called for measures to p rotect Southern agricultu re from
low-priced imports.

Cancun's progressive resu lt h i g h lighted the crucial role of

campaigning. Tha n ks to intense lobbying by civil society groups both
i n the north a nd the south developing countries took similar positions
on severa l issues. Cancun is a landmark a nd holds val uable lessons
for civil society groups. We hope this dossier captures the importance
of i ncorporating trade issues o nto the agenda of g roups working o n
themes that may seem removed from t h e WTO

The EQUATIONS team

November 2003.
1.0 Context
1 . 1 What I s The WTO, Why Should We Care?
By The Associated Press

CANCU N, Mexico (AP) The 1 46 governments that belong to the

World Trade Organisation will 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 lization tal ks.

Here, i n q uestion-a nd-answer form, is a look at the WTO a nd how

.
it affects businesses a nd i nd ividuals worldwide.

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 lization negotiations. The organization came i nto
existence on Jan. 1 , 1 995, to replace the General Agreement on
Tariffs a nd Trade. It employs 550 people at its headquarters, on the
shores of La ke Geneva . Unlike its predecessor, the WTO has legal
force a nd its agreements a nd rules a re bind i ng on a l l its members.

Q: What does it do?

A: It sets out the legal rules surround i ng i nternationa l com merce,
through a series of treaties a nd agreements negotiated by its
members. These treaties a re built u pon the principle that trade should
be as u ninhibited as possible a nd that a country should treat all its
trading partners equally a nd avoid d iscri m i nating between domestic
a nd foreig n products, services or people. To ensure this, the WTO has
a lega l system for settling d isputes between members a nd a

8
surveillance mechanism to look at trade policies in each country. It
also is responsible for the occasional "rounds" of negotiations that
lead to treaties to open up trade. The current rou nd was launched i n
Novem ber 2001 a nd i s supposed to finish b y the end of next yea r,
though the last round overra n by several yea rs.

Q : The phrase "free trade" is widely used a n d often criticized. What

does it actually mea n ?
A: I n economics, i t is t h e princi ple that the g lobal economy benefits
if trade is dictated only by market forces. Countries speci a lize in the
products that they can produce most cheaply and import those that
can be p roduced mare efficiently elsewhere.

Barriers to free trade, l i ke i m port tariffs, q uotas, government

subsidies a nd complicated customs proced u res adversely affect
economic g rowth. A recent study by the U niversity of Michigan found
that cutting g lobal trade barriers by a third would boost the world
economy by $ 6 1 3 b i l l ion - the equivalent of adding a country the
size of Canada to the world.

Q: That sou nds good . Why not iust do it?

A: Beca use free trade creates losers as wel l as winners and can widen
the gaps between rich and poor.
"For some pa rts of the 'world, trade has been proved to have very
positive effects i n the reduction of income inequality, but i n other
a reas, l ike Latin America, we have seen iust the opposite ," said WTO
D i rector-General S u pachai Pa nitchpa kd i .

9
 Many i ndustries only survive i n certai n countries because of
subsidies or because foreign products a re kept out. Governments
can't aHord politica l ly to agree to a move that could destroy one of
thei r i nd ustries, like steel i n the U n ited States or sugar i n the E u ropean
U nion. In add ition, free trade may conflict with governments' social o r
environmental policies.
1
J For this reason, the WTO recognizes that countries wi l l need time
to adapt a nd restructure as barriers fall, so cuts a re made g radua l ly
and with the agreement of a l l mem bers. Because decisions made at
the WTO can have a massive eHect on individual countries, a l l
decisions a re taken b y consensus.

Q: Why a re so many g roups a nd i n d ividua ls opposed to the WTO?

A : Many WTO opponents see the organization as putting the i nterests
of business -especially big m u ltinationals - above those of workers,
the environment and poor nations. Some g roups, especially in the
U n ited States, a re concerned that the binding 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,
especially the United States and the Europea n U n ion, who can easily
put p ressure on smal ler nations to go a long with things that may not
be in their i nterest. They also see the WTO - which a lways meets i n
private - as lacking transparency.

Small a nd poor countries a lso complain that they ca nnot keep u p

with the goings-on of the organisation, even though i t is vitally
i mportant to them . Meetings have proliferated i n recent years, and
sometimes several take place simulta neously. More than 30 WTO
members cannot a Hord to maintai n any staH at a l l i n Geneva and
many others have only one or two officials to cover all the issues.

10
1 . 2 Singapore I ssues And I ndian Concerns
Economic Ti mes 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 policy; trade facilitation; and tra nsparency i n government
procu rement, in relation to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
These fou r issues have collectively come to be known a s the Singapore
issues i n the context of the WTO becau se it was at the first ministerial
conference of the WTO i n Sing apore in 1 996 that they were first
b roug ht u p a s possible a reas on which the m ultilateral body could
i nitiate negotiations.

What is the rationale beh i nd d iscussing these issues as part of trading

negotiations?
Many nations that a re members of the WTO felt that for
i nternational trade to be genuinely free and fai r. These issues would
need to be incorporated . They pointed out, for instance, that of the
total g lobal trade in good a nd services of $6. 1 tri l l ion in 1 995, a s
m uch as o ne-thi rd was trade withi n com pa nies - between su bsidiaries
of the same MNC or between a s u bsidi a ry and its headquarters.
Clearly, therefore, there is a considerable l i n k between trade a nd
i nvestment. Yet, as things stand, while there a re as many as 2 , 1 00
(UNCTAD estimate) bilateral investment treaties, there is no unilateral
a g reement on how to deal with foreign d i rect i nvestment.

Similarly, competition policy would also have an impact on the

vol u me of trade. One of the things a n international agreement on
competition policy would need to loo k at is carte ls i n various
i ndustries, which a re estimated to cost d eveloping countries b i l l ions of
dollars a yea r due to overpricing . As for government procurement to
take just one exa m ple of how it affects trade, if a government offers a n
incentive for the level o f i ndegenisation i n procuring a good that
clearly would affect trade.

Here a ga i n, there is a 'plurilatertal' a g reement, i nvolving 28

countries, but the attem pt is to reach an agreement between all 1 4 6
WTO member countries. Trade facilitation refers essentia l ly to
simplifying procedu ra l hassles in i nternational trade, in terms of the
documentation required by customs departments a nd so on.
O bviously, this too has a n i m pact
on trade.

Where do various countries stand on the Singapore issues?

There is by-and-Iarge a d ivide between the developed a n d the
developing countries on whether these issues ought to be part of the

11
 WTO's negotiating mandate at this point or not, a nd a lso o n 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 first pushed for the
Singapore issues in 1 996 and to varying degrees most of the
developed world has gone along with them. I ndia a nd other
developi n g countries, on the other hand, a re cautious a bout taking u p
these issues for negotiations.

What is India's obiection to the Singapore issues?

On issues l i ke i nvestment and competition policy, I ndia feels that
hav i ng a m ultilateral agreement would be a serious i m p i ngement on
the sovereign rights of countries. To an extent of cou rse, this is inherent
i n any m u ltilateral treaty, but i nvestme nt is seen as an a rea i n which
ceding sovereign rig hts would leave governments, particularly
develop i ng country governments, with too l ittle room for manoeuvre i n
directing i nvestments i nto a reas of national priority. These a re concerns
that many other developing countries a l so share . In addition on the
specific issue of competition policy as a p pl 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 Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) is perha ps the best-known exa m ple of a n export
cartel that rigs prices by fixing production cei l i ngs. O n the issue of
tra nsparency i n governme nt procurement, the I ndia n position is that
while the principle is e ntirely acceptable, there can n ot be a u niversal
determ i nation of what constitutes tra nspare nt procedures. O n trade
facil itation I ndia has a rgued that once again while the idea
unexceptiona ble, developing countries may not have the resou rces- by
way of techn ology or otherwise to bri n g their procedu res in l i n e with
those in the developed world over the short-to medi um-term.

1 . 3 Opinion
Time For Transformation

Feeble and corrupted, the WTO is now i neffective. It needs

transformation to a llow the poor of the world to overthrow the power
of the rich.
George Monbiot, Monday Septem ber 8, 2003, The Guardian

The World Trade Orga nisation is a corrupted, co-opted, captu red

institution, b ut a l l those who care a bout global iustice should be
fighting for its surviva l . Every time we shout that the WTO has got to

12
 : ; ,

go, we join hands with George B ush: he wants to destroy it because it

im pedes his plans for d i rect U S control of other n ations' 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� org a nised by the rich nations,
by corporate lobbying and by the secret and u naccou nta ble
com mittees of the corporate lawyers it uses to resolve trade d isputes.

All this m ust cha nge, but it is now clear to me that to cal l for its
destruction is like cal l i ng for the d issolution of a corru pt parliament i n
favou r of the monarchy: i t i s to choose u n ilatera list over
multilateralism. 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 while permitting 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 help of
"infant i ndustry protection": defending new i ndustries from foreign
competition u ntil they a re big enough to com pete on equal terms. The
policy m akes sense. Established Industries have capita l , experience
and econom ies of sca le on thei r side; i nfant i nd ustries in poor nations
do not. Developing in d i rect competition with big business overseas is
l i ke learning to swi m in a torrent: you wi ll be swept away and drowned
long before you acq u i re the necessary expertise. Rich countries, by
contrast, have no need for protectionism, but by defending their
markets against i m ports from poor nations, they prevent the transfer of
wea lth.

In practice, beca use of the way in which the rich members of the
organisation have been a ble to subvert its p rocesses a nd b u l ly the
poor ones, the WTO does precisel y the opposite . The "special and
d ifferential treatment" it offers the poor nations is both utterly feeble
a nd routinely blocked by the IMF a nd the World Bank, which i nsist that
their clients drop a l l their protections in order to be eligible for loans.
The "technolog y transfer" the WTO has long p romised the poor h as
never mate rialised . The rich nations, by contrast, a re permitted to
protect their farmers, their texti le p roducers and their steel m illers, a nd
to g ra nt thei r com pan ies ever g reater rights over other people's
intellectua l property.

Instead we need a clea r a nd non-negotiable sliding scale of trade

privileges. The very poorest nations should be permitted, if they wish,
to ful ly protect their i nfant i ndustries, j ust as Britain did d u ring the early
days of the I ndustria l revolution or the US between 1 789 a nd 1 9 1 3.

13
As they become richer, they would be forced to g radu a l ly d rop those
protections. The very poorest countries should a lso be a l lowed free use
of rich countries' intellectual property, for trade withi n their own
borders and with other poor nations.

These measures, of cou rse, a re fai r only in so m uch as they permit

the development of econo m ies and the tra nsfer of wea lth between
n ations. They do not deal with the other g reat source of injustice: the
corporations' ability to force nations i nto destructive competition,
abandon ing the laws defending workers a nd the environment in order
to attract their custom. Truly fair trade requires a further set of
measures: corporations should not be allowed to trade between
nations u ntil they can show that they a re meeting the standards set by
the I nternational Labour O rganisation 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 Britai n . Like those partici pating in
volu ntary fa ir trade today, all c � rporations engaged i n I nternational
trade wou ld be obliged to employ monitoring companies, which would
ensure rules were respected a nd report beck to the WTO. Any
corporation employing slaves or using lethal machinery, banning
unions or tipping toxic waste i nto rivers would be forbidden from
trading internationally. If we were to add the provision that a l l
com panies should pay the full environmental cost of the resources they
use, we would possess a com plete mechanism for ensuring only the
n ice g uys survive.

None of this would be possible without a world trade organ isation. I n

helping the poor majority t o pursue this a genda, we can transform the
WTO from a body that enforces u nfa 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

14
2.0 Prelude To Cancun
2.1 Why A Derailed WTO Ministerial Is The Best
Outcome For The South - Walden Bello
Inter Press Service, 4 September 2 003
BANGKOK, SEPT (IPS) - With
the fifth m i nisterial of the World
Trade O rganisation (WTO) fast
a p proaching, the organisation
that was hailed at its founding i n
1 995 a s the crowni ng point of
g lobal economic governance is i n
g ridlock.
Despite a n obvious effort to
p ut a positive spin to negotiations
over the last two years, the
recently issued draft m inisteria l
declaration evi nces l ittle
consensus on a l l the burning
issues d ividing WTO members.
Stalemated Talks
WTO Director General
S u pachai Pan itch pa kd i trumpeted
a "successful" last m i n ute
com p romise on the contentious
issue of the relationsh i p of trade­
related i ntellectual p roperty rig hts
. (T RIPs) and public health i n the
ma nufacture a nd i mport of vital
d rugs. Many a na lysts contend,
however, thot the compromise
leans more toward protecting the
patent rig hts of Northern
pharmaceutical com pa n 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-AI DS a nd
other epidemics. It is very
doubtful that it can u n block
negotiations in the other a reas,
where North-South d ifferences as
wel l as internecine d isputes
a mong the rich countries, a re
more solidly entrenched.
15
 Prior to the compromise, the so-cal led "trade-related" issues
tal ks had been stalemated by the of i nvestment, com petition policy;
US' refusa l to budge from its tra nspare ncy i n government
positio n that loose n i ng of patent procurement, and trade
rights s hould be l imited only to facilitation, which Brussels and
H IV-AIDS, ma laria, a n d Washington have rega rded as the
tuberculosis drugs, defying the centerpiece of the Doha
decla ration of the Fourth WTO Declaration . I ndeed, there is
Ministerial i n Doha, 200 1 , which fundamental disag reement over
clea rly placed public hea lth whether or not there is a
issues a bove corporate mandate to eve n begi n
i ntel lectua l property rights. negotiations. The developing
countries assert that the 1/ explicit
A last-m i nute attem pt by the
consensus", of each member
Europea n U nion and the U nited
country must be obtai ned to
States to set up a negotiating
l aunch negotiations. The
framework to revive the sta lled
European U nion (EU) and other
tal ks on a gricultura l l i bera lisation
developed countries, o n the other
a ppears to have backfired, as
hand, claim that there is already
developing countries bitterly
agreement to negotiate a nd it is
criticised the two trading
only the "modalities" of the .
superpowers for regressi ng to
negotiations that need to be
their behaviour duri ng the last
ironed out.
years of the U ruguay Round
( 1 986-94) , crafting a backroom The Civil Society
dea l with no pa rticipation from Factor
the 1 44 other member countries.
Some observers say that the
Brazil, I ndia, and China -the
three key i n g redients of the
powerhouses of the developing
"Seattle scena rio" a re emerg i n g,
world- i m mediately responded
a lluding to the "formula" that
with a paper tel l i ng the
produced the famous collapse of
Europeans and Americans to quit
the Third M i nisteria l in Seattle i n
beatin g a roun d the bush a nd
December 1 99 9:
radica l ly cut the high levels of
The EU-US stalemate i n
subsidisation responsible for the
agriculture is a g a i n at centre­
dumping of cheap g ra i n a nd
stage;
meat on world ma rkets that is
Developing countries a re more
putting hundreds of thousa nds of
resen tful than ever;
developing country farmers out of
Civil society is on the move.
business.
The civil society factor must
There has been no movement
n ot be underestimated . The
whatsoever on negotiations to
num bers a re n ot clear, but at
ring under WTO jurisdiction the

16
least 1 5,000 people from a l l over go to Cancun and anti-WTO
the world may show u p in actions th roughout Mexico, the
Cancun. This would be the Zapatista decision could
equivalent of five percent of transform w hat is stil l seen by
Cancun's population of 300,000 most Mexicans as a foreign
a critical mass if any. At the gathering i n a "Ya n kee tourist
moment, up to 1 0,000 peasants colony" into a massive
led by the Mexica n farmers' national protest.
group UNORCA and the g lobal
peasant federation Via
Campesina a re planning to
march to the Convention Centre
located in the restricted section of
the hotel zone to deliver a
message to the m i nisterial
assembly demanding that the
WTO "get out of agriculture" .
Another coal ition ca l led "Espacio
Mexicano" is setting up a week­
long " Forum of the People" that
will climax on Septembe r 1 3 with
a marc h coordinated with
demonstrations in scores of other
cities throughout the world on the
theme '�ga inst Globalisation
and War".

Perhaps the most significant

development is the decision of
the Zapatistas, the a rmed
insu rrectionary force based i n
indigenous a n d peasant
comm u n ities i n the forests and
highlands of C hiapas i n southern
Mexico, to throw their weight
behind the protests. IIIf the
Zapatistas join the mobilisation
against the WTO, then because
of their g reat prestige throughout
Mexico, the whole situation will
be transformed/' says H ector d e
la Cueva, o n e o f the coordi nators
of Espado Mexicano. With.
thousands of Mexicans i nspired to
 Mexican a uthorities a re agitated, despite efforts by leaders of the
i nternational movement against corporate-driven globalisation to
assure them that their demonstrations a nd meetings wil l be nonviolent.
It turns out, in fact, that the federa l government has been compiling a n
"enemies' list" o f people t o closely monitor d u ri ng the ministeria l.
Leaked to the press i n m id-Aug ust, the government memo conta i ns
a bout 60 names, a mong them Ecuadorian I ndian leader Blanca
C ha ncoso, Indian physicist Vandana S hiva, and America n agro­
ecologist Peter Rosset, who were designated a s "ultras."

Institutional Crisis
The current trava i l s of the WTO a re a conti nuation of the
institutional crisis that first broke in Seattle i n December 1 999,
triggered by resistance of civi l society groups to the WTO's drive to
subord inate critical d imensions of social l ife to corporate trade, by
developing countries' resentment of a few developed countries
i m posing a doctri nai re g lobal liberal isation progra mme i n i mica l to
thei r interests, a nd by the widespread reputiation of a n 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 a pse:
"The.WTO w i l l not be a ble to continue i n its present form. There has
to be fundamenta l a nd radical cha nge in order for it to meet the
needs a nd aspirations of a l l 1 34 of its members."

No reforms followed in the wake of Seattle, and only US-EU strong­

a rming of the developing countries in the context of the 9- 1 1 events
produced a declaration mandating a l i mited set of negotiations to
further trade l i bera l isation during the Fou rth Mini sterial in Doha,
Qatar, in November 200 1 . But the so-ca lled ' Doha Round" qUickly
degenerated into a stalemate .

Crisis of Globalization
The WTO's institutiona l crisis, however, is itself a reflection of a n
even deeper, more comprehensive crisis -that o f the g lobalist project
of accelerated integration of production a nd markets. One key trigger
of this crisis was the Asi a n financial crisis of 1 997, which brought
home the lesson that the ca pital account l i beralisation that was a
centerpiece of the g lobalist ideology could be profou ndly desta bi lising,
resulting in such tra gedies as that of I ndonesia , where 22 m i llion
people fel l below the poverty line in the space of a few weeks.

18
 . ,',

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'1 ... '""-

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This discrediting of the presu med benefits of u nfettered capital

mobil ity could not but provoke a wide-ra nging exa m i nation of the
claims of a nother key tenet of the g loba l ist project: that trade
libera lisation promoted prosperity. The results of many investigations of
this assumptioh carried out in the late 1 990s were perh a ps best
summed up by World Bank researchers Matthias Lundberg a nd Lynn
Squire : 'The poor a re fa r more vulnera ble to s h ifts in relative
i nternational prices, a nd this vulnerability is magnified by the country's
openness to trade. At least in the short term, g loba l isation appears to
increase both poverty a nd inequality."

As the doctrine a nd institutions of capital mobility a nd trade

l ibera l isation were i ncreasing ly eroded by a crisis of leg itimacy, the
globalist project was further u ndermined by a nother momentous
development: the stock market collapse of Ma rch 2000, which
inaugurated a n era of g lobal recession a nd deflation brought about by
the excesses of speculative capital as wel l as g lobal overproduction.
Faced by a n era of scarcity, rising joblessness, a nd slow growth,
economic elites i n both Europe a nd the US have increasing ly turned
 away from p romotin g the project of a n i ntegroted g lobal economy,
with obstacles to capital a nd trade flows reduced to a minimum that
served the universal interests of the g lobal corporate class, and moved
towa rds pol icies of protecting the interests of national or regional
capita list elites.

I
The E U-US confl icts over agriculture, steel tariffs, pharmaceuticals,
GMO's, a i rcraft subsidies a nd Microsoft's practices i n Europe reflect
this rising protectionism in both Brussels a nd Washingto n . These
economic conflicts have been exacerbated by the d ivergent political
paths on I ra q and the Middle East taken by the US and the
cornerstone countries of the EU - - Germany a nd France- which have
u n raveled the "Atla ntic Alliance" that won the Cold Wa r against the
Soviet Union.

B ush's u n ilateralist economics, in particula r, marks a turning away

from the condominium of g lobal capita l that underpin ned the
m u ltilateral institutions -the IMF, World Bank, and WTO-during the
C l inton era . It is a response to the crisis of the g lobalist project that,
with its b razen defense of US corporate ca pital exemplified in its stand
on TRIPs and public health, is l i kely to deepen that crisis a nd the crisis
of the multilateral institutions that were used to advance the
g lobalisation agenda. For with the EU a nd 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 split a nd i ntimidate 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 fra m ework fai l i ng, both the E U a nd the US have
turned to bilateral a nd m u ltilateral trade agreements as a vehicle for
l i bera lisation that would serve thei r particular i nterests. The race is on,
and the US a p pears to be a head. Washington recently announced free
trade a g reements (HA) with Chile and Singapore, a nd this coming
October it will unveil a n HA with Thailand 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 jump­
starting the WTO.

Developing countries a re just as wary of FTA's a s of they a re of the

WTO, recogn ising that they a re just as m uch guided by the hegemonic
i nterests of the stronger partners.

20
 To those who argue that the WTO is better for developing country
interests tha n FlAs because it has institutionalised rules a nd
procedu res that constra i n the more powerful countries, developing
country a na lysts such a s Aileen Kwa, Geneva representative of Focus
on the Global South a nd a uthor of the expose "Behind the Scenes at
the WTO' , point to rich country governments' systematic i ntimidation
and coercion of Southern countries i n the last few yea rs i n an attempt
to pry open their markets, h id i ng behind a thick veil of non-
tra nspa rency.

I ndeed, developing countries m ust cease a llowing themselves to be

boxed i nto such false choices and start working on real a lternative
arrangements, such as creating regional economic b locs or
restructuring economic existing o nes such a s Mercosur and ASEAN to
serve a s effective engines of coord inated econ� m ic prog ress via
pol icies that effectively subord i n ate trade to development.

Failure is Success
One can not d iscount that despite their d eepe n i ng d ifferences, the
US and the EU may still pul l together to coerce developing countries
i nto approving new i n itiatives in trade a nd trade-related l ibera lisatio n
in Cancun

However, the increasingly l i kely scenario is a m i nisteria l that will

produce no agreements for significa nt new l i bera lisation a nd
essential ly reproduce the stalemate i n Geneva. For developing
countries constantly u nder siege to open their m arkets or cede control
of a reas thus for the preserve of national pol icy-making -li ke
i nvestment a n d competition- to the Was h ington a nd B russels­
dominated WTO, a fai led, stalemated m i nisterial is the best outcome.
It gives them the b reathing space to organise and coord inate thei r
defense and a l lows them a n d g lobal civil society the opportunity to
mount the reversal of corporate-driven globalisation that even the
free-trade mouthpiece Economist sees as a very real threat to the
future of capitalism because of the Jlexcesses" of g lobal capital.

21
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

Press Release
2 7th August 2003

A delegation of WTO Wirodh i Bharatiya Jan Abhiyan (Indian

People's Campaign against WTO) consisting of S h ri v,P. Singh, Shri
H . D. Devegowda, S h ri I . K. G ujral, Aboni Roy (RSP), Shri Debabrata
Biswas (Al l I nd ia Forward BlockL Shri M.K. Pandhe (CITU), Shri AK.
Anjan (CPI), Ms. Srilata Swa minathan, (CP I-ML) , S h ri S h ri S.P. Sh ukla
(Caordinator, I PCAWTO) , Dr. Va-da na 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 deleg ation stressed the following five-point charter o f demands

formu lated by the Abhiyan :

• Govern ment m ust not a llow the issues of investment; com petition
policy; government procurement; and trade facilitation to be
negotiated in WTO.

• Government m ust not put on offer the sectors such as water,

energy, health and education in the on-going negotiations on services.

• An unprecedented agra rian distress is being experienced in the

cou ntry. Anti- peasant, anti people policies of Government have
engendered the crisis. 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 a nd the so-cal led
international discipline that is evolving there on agriculture, a re tata lly
detrimental to the interest of the vast majority of our people consisting
of sma l l and marginal peasa nts, the agricu ltural workers, the ru ral a nd
u rban poor. I n the circumsta nces, we i nsist that the Govern ment
recog nize the crisis situation in a g riculture, put an end to their a nti­
people policies, and, in pa rticular, firmly reclaim and assert our
unqualified rig ht to impose qua ntitative restrictions on im ports to
promote the development of our a g riculture a nd to safeguard the
livelihood of seventy percent of our population.

22
•
Since the issues now being strengthened not only on the
brought up in WTO negotiations issue of agricu lture but across the
fal l within the Concu rrent list of board, particularly in rega rd to
our Constitution, there should be the opposition to the so-ca l l ed
full consultation with the State Singa pore issues.
Govern ments and no substa ntive
move should be made without
such consu ltation.
•
Above a ll, the fu ndamenta l
questions such as employment
prospects, food secu rity, the
safeg uarding of the livel ihood of
the overwhelming majority of our
people, the provision of basic
services and infrastructure a nd
the federa I spi rit of ou r polity a re
involved, there ca n be no
question of such negotiations
being ca rried on without ta king
Parlia ment into confidence and
without its explicit approva l of the
Government sta nd. If that
necessitates Constitutio nal
amendment, it must be brought
about.

In the course of discussions

that followed, Shri VP. Singh
welcomed the formation of the
Group of seventeen developing
countries including India, China,
Brazil, Mexico, South Africa ,
Argentina, Tha i la nd a nd 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 rig ht
to use qua ntitative restrictions,
which is of vita l importance in our
context. It was a lso suggested
that the emerg ing solida rity of
developing countries needs to be
 It was a lso stressed that the
Government should undertake a
com prehensive review of h ow the
operation of WTO over the last
eight years a nd the
implementation of economic
reforms over the last d ecade
have adversely affected our
industry, the working classes, our
a griculture and the majority of
our people. The political a n d
constitutional i m p lications o f the
WTO negotiations in the context
of issues like ag riculture,
education , health, energy were
pointed out and the Prime .
Minister was urged to conven e a
conference of State Agriculture
Ministers forthwith before
formulating the government stand
o n agriculture for the Cancun
WTO meeting. The delegation
stressed that the p rocess of
commodification of education,
health, water must be resisted.
The serious implications of the
g rowing corporate monopoly o n
seeds were stressed. I n this
context the atte ntion of PM was
d rawn to the havoc caused by the
Monsanto hybrid m a ize seeds in
Bihar. It was pOinted out how the
d eveloped countries have been
a llowed to side-step the debate
on the dangerous im plications of
TRIPS agreeme nt in respect of
bio-diversity, piracy of traditional
knowledge a n d g rowing
monopoly of multinationals o n
" right to im pose quantitative
seeds. T h e need t o insist o n a
thorough-g oing review of TRIPS
which was provided for in the
Doha declaration was stressed.
24
"-­
� --------�-
The Com merce Minister who
responded at PM's i nstance said
that there was g rowing
dissatisfaction a mong developing
countries a bout the E U-US stand
on agriculture. He however felt
that the present level of tariff in
agriculture products provided
adequate" comfo rt" and the
effort of government would be to
maintain that level . As regards
the Singapore issues he said that
concerns a bout the i mplications
of the multilatera l disciplines i n
these a reas were being felt widely
in developing world and hoped
to continue the stan ce of
oppositio n/questioning in rega rds
to these issues at d iffere nt levels.
He also· felt that b roadly a
n ational consensus seems to be
e merging on the issues facing the
country in the context of the
forthcoming WTO meeting at
Can cun.
Shri VP. Singh reiterated that
the tariffs constituted a very weak
a nd ineffective instrument for
safegua rding our agriculture as
the negotiations would inevitably
lead to their being reduced to
low l evels. O n the other hand,
the deg ree of subsidization of
agriculture in E U and US was not
only enormous but also continued
to g row under one name or the
other. I n the circumstan ces, it was
crucial to reclaim a nd assert the
restrictions o n 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 200 3

As trade m i nisters from the WTO's 146 member cou ntries meet i n
Cancun, we cal l on them to halt discussions on the General
Ag reement on Trade i n Services (GATS) a nd to resist any contra ry
attempts which seek to speed u p these neg otiations. The U nited States
and the E u ropean U n ion, whose corporations have most to gain from
these tal ks, a re pushing for a political declaration i n Cancun ca l l ing
on all WTO members to subm it their services, including essentia l
services, 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 wil l be used to extract prog ress on GATS, even though GATS is
not a key agenda ite m . This puts i mmense pressu re on developing
cou ntries to com mit more of their services, i ncluding 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 publ icly clai ms that current
negotiations, 'could potentially contribute to i nternational efforts to
improve access to water. ' Yet in confidential i nternal memos between
the E u ropea n Commission and the top three E u ropea n water
com pa nies (Suez, Vivendi and RWE), the EC states that, 'one of the
main obiectives in the cu rrent round of negotiations is to achieve rea l
a nd mea n ingfu l access for European service providers for their exports
of envi ronmenta l services [wh i C h i ncludes water services]. '

I n J u ly 2002, as part of ongoing GATS negotiations, t h e EU

submitted demands to 109 cou ntries, requesting a m bitious l evels of
market access for its corporations. T h is i ncluded req uests to 72
countries, several of them least developed countries, req uesting access
to their water services. The US a lso subm itted extensive a nd
controversial demands, which under the g uise of 'transpa rency ' render
domestic decision-making vu l ne ra bl e to foreign commercia l i nterests.

25
 Developing countries have every reason to resist such
fa r-reaching dema nds. So fa r, the libera lisation of water services has
ca used g rave problems in cou ntries where the i nvolvement of foreig n
multinationals has typica lly made water more expensive tha n poor
households can afford.
Any country making GATS com mitments in water would bind such
libera lisation 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 quality, or a futu re government wishes to
change the policy.

The U nited Nations Sub-Commission on H uman Rig hts, concerned

with the effect of GATS on universa l service obligations, suggests that
GATS conflicts with the h u m a n rig hts obligations, of WTO member
cou ntries . Barely a year ago at the UN World Sum mit on Sustainable
Development i n Johan nesburg, heads of the govern ments made
comm itments 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 com m u n ities, especia lly those in the developing
world, is that the g lobal water crisis will worsen if water is subjected to
WTO ru les that put corporate interests ahead of the rig ht to water as
fundamenta l to life.

I n order to make these obligations a rea lity we ca l l on Ministers

meeting in Ca ncu n to halt the cu rrent GATS negotiations and keep
essential services, such as water, out of the WTO.

2.4 Press Release

Stop the GAT S attackl

Moratorium on all com mitments under Genera l Ag reement on

Trade in Services (GATS)" is the demand of more than 650 sig natories
including Pa nchayat Presidents and representatives, trade unions,
fa rmers groups, mass orga nizations, NGOs and a large num ber 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 (Mum bai). This letter, which wil l be
presented to the Prime Minister a nd Commerce ministry officials,
signals the beg in ning of a people's ca mpaign against the GATS.

26
 Among the trade u nions a n d mass organizations that have made
this demand a re the All I nd ia Trade U nion Congress (AITUC) , N ational
Alliance of Peoples Movements, M um ba i Gra ha k Panchayat, Shahar
Vikas Manch of Mumbat, Kokan Vikas Sangharsh Samiti, KRRS
(Karnatakal, the N i mad Malwa Mazdoor Kisaan Sangathan (Mad hya
Pradesh) and others. Significantly, more than 200 Panchayat
representatives from Tamil Nadu and And h ra Pradesh have already
written to the
Prime Minister.

As part of the " built-i n-agenda" of the World Trade O rganisation

(WTO) , the GATS was reopened for negotiations by the beg in n i n g of
2000. From the a rduous negotiations on modalities emerged a non­
m ultilateral mecha n ism known as a "request-offer" a pproach 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 u p to liberalisation (b) the mode of service supply
to be opened up u nder that Sectori a nd (C) the quantum of
liberalisation that n eeds to be carried out under each mode of supply
withi n that sector. The Members a re responding to these requests by
making " i nitial offers" This h a s overwhelmed most developing
countries, at a time when they have been pushing the WTO to
implement a n assessment of i mpacts of services trade libe ralization .

Why moratoriu m on GATS offers?

GATS covers more or less all the essentia l p u blic and private
services supplied and consumed by society. I n spite of this fact, the
Government of India is n ot carryin g out a public debate in any forum,
i ncluding the Parliament, to discuss h ow its com mitments u nder GATS
would i m pact the developmental fab ric of Indian society. I rrespective
of the fact that a n um be r of services get covered u nder the State a nd
Concu rrent list of the I ndian Constitution, several State level officials
a re com pletely unaware of the GATS itself. If this is the a pathy s hown
by the Centre towards States, nothing better can be expected in the
context of Panchayats and Municipa l Corporations. Panchayat
Presidents and representatives were shocked when they were
confronted with the experiences
of liberalisation in essential services such as health, education,
sanitation and water in other developing countries.

The lack of transparency a ssociated with the existing liberalisation

agenda, the underm i n i ng of federalism a n d the lack of competence
within the Commerce ministry a re some of the several issues
highlighted i n the letter, a nd u nderline the need for a standstill in the

27
 negotiations.

The upcoming Fifth WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun is expected

to provide the mandate for further negotiations and provide a
deadline for final com mitme nts. The demand from I ndian civil society
is that instead of a ccepting this process as a fait accompli the
Government of I ndia should lead the developing cou ntries in cal l i ng
for the m uch-needed assessment of GATS a nd removal of a l l essentia l
services from the a mbit of the GATS.

The signatories to the letter bel ieve that the right to essentia l
services i s ina lienable to a l l citizens o f I ndia. Fu rthe r, equity, justice a nd
dig nity i n the delivery of essentia l services is i ntegral for long-term
societal stability and equality. S ig natories to the letter cal l u pon the
I ndian Government to respect the Indian Constitution and
fundamental p ri nci ples of democracy a nd a ct 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)

28
3.0 From The Conference
3.1 Cancun Number Crunching Undermines Claims Of
WT O Democracy
Massive Negotiating I nequality Reinforces Rich
Countries' Hand
World Development Movement, PRESS RELEASE,
For immediate release: 10 September 2003

The Wo rld Development Movement (WDM) today ( 1 0 Sept)

revea led that the E U has a massive 65 1 people in its delegation at the
World Trade O rganisation Ministeria l meeti ng in Cancun, Mexico. This
com pares with Rwa nda who has just th ree delegates .WDM a lso
calculated that the two richest delegatio ns, the EU (65 1 ) and the US
(2 1 2) , representing approximately 1 0% of the world's populatio n,
have a tota l combi ned delegation of 863, over three times the total of
235 for China, I ndia, Brazil, Argentina and So uth Africa who
col lectively represent 5 1 % of the world's population. It is a lso over
twice the negotiating strength of the combi ned 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 . Combi ned with the dee ply unfair negotiating process, the

29

3.2 Why Are We Protesting Today?
Press release by Participants in the
peaceful protest at the Cancun
Convention Center, Sept. 10, 2003.
30
developing world has little cha nce to achieve fa irer trade rules. The
one member one vote idea l of the WTO so often cited by its defenders
colla pses under the reality of the massive i nequalities in negotiating
.
strength . "
"The EU's massive deleg ation is much larger than the 594 it sent to
Seattle and 502 in Doha . This was condem ned 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 twi n broth er. "
"This i s yet another exa m ple o f why developing cou ntries u rgently
need democratic reform of the WTO to strengthen their hand and
protect them from being tra m pled 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
Our act of protest today is one that is meant to sym bolize the fact
that peoples throughout the world have turned their backs on a n
institution that has become a source of g lobal poverty, inequality,
disem powerment, and environmenta l crisis.
Once presented as the premier institution of economic g loba l
governa nce of the 21st 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 a nd the Europea n U n ion-have revealed
it to be nothing 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, parliamenta ry institutions a re reserved for
speech making while real decisions a re ta ken in informal, restricted
"Green Rooms" a nd "mini ministerial" whose participants are
ha ndpicked by a few powerfu l govern ments, foremost of which are the
U nited States and the European U nion. The vast majority of the 1 46
member cou ntries of the WTO are developing cou ntries. Yet the strong
rule beca use there are no democratic ru les that govern decision­
making. This is a 1 5th centu ry institution that is masquerading as a 2 1 sf
centu ry organ ization .
�;�{/.
"'.t,.
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'I';"�,:
7.:1""
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.
The WTO is a nti-development
The free trade biases that the WTO promotes are real ly
mechanisms that allow the corporate monopolies to pry open and
monopolize developing country markets by suppressing efforts at
national development. The dum ping of h ighly subsidized agricultura l
products o f agribusiness interests that i s institutionalized in the WTO's
Agreement on Ag riculture (AOA) is destroying the agricultura l sector of
developing countries. The Trade related intellectual Property Rights
(TRI PS) Agreement is nothing b ut a corporate mechanism to privatize
and profit from knowledge, even if the price are the deaths of millions
of people owing to their lack of access to critical medicine. Last week's
so-called "agreement" simply perpetuates this .

Membership in the WTO makes it i m possible for developing

countries to use control of their externa l trade via tariffs a nd quotas as
pa rt of a strategy of development. This use of trade policy for
development was used by earlier developing societies including the
U n ited States, many E u ropean countries, a nd Japan. Today, not only is
the use of trade pol icy for i ndustrialization effectively outlawed by the
WTO regime, but the hegemonic powers in the orga nization, the EU
and the US, are making a determined drive to bring under "WTO
discipl i ne" other mechanisms that have long been used by
govern ments as key instruments of national economic development:
investment pol icy, com petition policy, a nd government procurement
policy.

31
 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 lly an i nvestment agreement
masquerading as a trade agreement, a nd its remova l of restrictions on
foreign i nvestment i n services wi l l l ea d to one more vita l a rea of the
economy detached from national development policy.

The WTO is obsolete.

The corporate principles that g u ide the WTO, which put profits over
h u m a n rig hts, social equity, democracy, a nd ecologica l equilibrium,
a re the pillars of a paradigm that is obsolete and unsustainable.
Impleme ntation of this economic paradigm has resulted in vastly
greater poverty, inequality, and enviro n mental desta bilization in the
South a n d North over the last two decades. The WTO is part of a
system of g lobal economic power whose time has passed. Moving
forwa rd to serve the i nterests of people a nd the enviro n ment means
embracing economic pri nciples that put people, com m u nity, and the
environment over profits. Moving forward means leavi ng the WTO
behind.

Join us i n turning our backs on a n u ndemocratic, a nti­

developme nt, a n d obsolete institution.

3. 3 Urgent Memo, 1 3 September 2 00 3

This is the copy of a memo found in From : Pascal Lamy and Robert Zoel lick
the US and EU press boxes at the WTO
Convention center. Picked up by a To: I nternational Chambe r of Commerce (ICC), the E u ropea n Services
n u m ber of jo urnalists, it was soon
Forum (ESF), the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) , National
obvious that it was a fake planted by
a civil s ociety organ isation . The issues
Foreign Trade Council (N FTC) Federation of Germa n I ndustries (BDI)
raised in the memo altho ug h ore not a nd others
far from the truth.
Re: Prog ress on you r wishes for new issues a nd services at Cancun
negotiations

Dea r Sirs

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

I nvestment in
You said you wa nted investment negotiations i n and some tough
investor protection . I nvestment is i n a n d so is the c lever phrase II other

32
elements raised by members" so things l i ke investor to state disputes
and portfol io i nvestment can stil 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 finalize the negotiating agenda
to include the key issues of investment, trade facil itation and
government procurement" You deliberately l eft out competition so we
have left our opinions open on that.

Trade facilitation and Government Procurement

In
I n despite t h e comp lete lack o f explicit consensus a n d concern by
developing countries. This should keep you happy a nd ensure
southern ma rkets i n particular a re opened up for a l l you r members.

Link to p rog ress on Ag riculture

You wil l really like this one - a footnote i n the text means that
trade-offs between agricultu re and i nvestment can proceed. Thanks for
the tip.

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
significantly more important than agriculture, a nd the ESF u rges the
WTO members to be as flexible as P?ssible in a g riculture negotiations.
The a g reement on the Common Agricultu ra l Pol i cy as wel l as the
reasonable Joint E U-US Negotiating Proposal 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 a g riculture without
actua l ly g iving a nything away.

Wil l keep you posted as things proceed . We regularly check your

positions on www. investmentwatch�.

33
3 . 4 African Parliamentarians Denounce
WTO Manuplation
P RESS STATEMENT, For immediate release : September 1 4, 2003 .

A stro n gl y worded press statement We Africa n parliamenta ria ns denou nce the on going WTO
that was s i g n ed by a n u m ber of
negotiatio ns which have been cha racterised by blata nt manipulation
African parl iamentarians w h o were at
Can c u n . W h i l e E uropean Parl i a m e n ­
by developed countries in tota l disrega rd of the interests and voices of
tarians (especially t h e Greens) also Africa n countries . The draft text currently under discussion is
i s s ued stro n g statem ents agai nst th eir unaccepta ble to us because it condemns millions of Africa ns to
trade c o m m i s s i o n s man ipulat i o n s ,
perpetua l underdevelopment and a bject poverty due to its fai l u re to
I n dian MPs were consp i c uous b y t h e i r
absence.
incorporate the major concerns of Africa .

We a bhor the total lack of transpa rency throug h a ca refully

orchestrated Green Room process designed to brow-beat our Ministers
into agreeing to an outcome that secu res the interests of developed
cou ntries while total 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 mo rning. We view this as an underhand tactic to coerce
our Ministers towa rds a pre-determined and desired outcome that
secu res the interests of the U n ited States and the Europea n U n ion
wh ile our cou ntries' interests rema i n on the parking lot.

As elected representatives of our people, we condemn the role of

the WTO Secretariat in facilitati ng this undemocratic and non
transpa rent Green Room process. In pa rticular 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 U n ited States and the Europea n

U n ion to use the so ca l led Singa pore issues to distract the attention of
this Ministe ria l Conference away from making ta ngible commitments
pa rticularly 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 will
undermine the developme nt interests of our countries.

34

. f'
'.

:'
;/0
�'l.'
,

�� �. .
 As representatives of our people we shal l faithful ly a nd steadfastly
play our oversight role here in Cancun and if need be, we shal l ensure
that our Parl ia ments do not ratify any outcome that is u nacceptable to
our countries' i nterests a n d to o u r constituents.
For further information contact:
Sheila Kawamaro-Mishambi, Member of Parliament, East African legislotive Assembly - Tel . 998844 6 728

3 . 5 Reject the Ministerial Text

Press Statement issued i n Cancu n, Mexico dated 1 4 Septem be r 2003

The draft m i nisterial decla ration text [JOB (03 l 1 S0/rev, 2J is a l l

TAKE a nd no GIVE a s far as developed countries a re concerned. It
renders the Doha pre-condition of "explicit decision by consensus
mean i ng less a nd flies in the face of the u na mbig uous opposition of a
large nu mber of developing countries to com mencing negotiations on
the so-cal led Singapo re issues. The ruse of a decision that the
Working G roup wil l be convened i n a Special Session "to elaborate
procedu ra l and substantive modalities" for negotiations on i nvestment
will deceive none: It is tantamount to assuming "an expl icit consensus"
which does not exist. The story is similar in reg a rd to "Com petition
policy". In regard to "Government Procu rement" a nd "Trade
Facilitation", the draft does not even 'attem pt to conceal its i ntention: It
straightaway calls for negotiations. Moreover, it prejudges the
a pplica b i l ity of Dispute Settlement Procedu res. And i n that it implies
more tha n what meets the eye. It is only a thin end of the wedge to
bring i n MFN and National treatment eventually.

I n rega rd to Ag riculture, the text offers virtually a n a rray of em pty

boxes which will presumably be fil led i n leisurely by E U and USA, as
they wish, i n Geneva . The "Blue Box" remains i n tact, with an
undefi ned idea of "capping it", not knowing how high the peg will be
set to ha ng the cap on and how long it may take to bring it a few
n otches down . The "Green Box" virtu a l ly rema ins untouchable, with a
ritual reference to minimal diScipline, if at a l l . Developing countries wil l
have l ittle defensive mechan ism of protection left with them, except a
longer time -schedule for reducing tariffs a n d admittedly a restricted
l ist of S pecial Products. SSM (Specia l Safety Mechan isms) would be
available to them only at the price of a l lowi ng it to be retained by
developed countries a lso! As far as I ndia is concerned, the right to

35
 im pose quantitative restrictions on i mports is essential to safegu a rd the
l ivelihood of seven hundred m i l l ion people dependent on agriculture
a nd a l lied occupations. Indian Agricultu re is facing a n unprecedented
crisis. And the d raft declaration is total ly oblivious of what is a bsol utely
essentia l to save it from d isaster.

On the priority issues of "Implementation", 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 is a pplied.

On the issue of Services, the aim of the negotiations has been

reduced to " p rogressively higher levels of libera l ization" when GATS
itself recog nizes the development d imension explicitly a nd
u na m biguously. There should have been recog nition that p rovision of
services l i ke Education, Health, Water Supply, which constitute the
basic h u m a n rights, can not be a llowed to be com modified a nd,
therefore , such sectors should be taken off from the negotiati ng
process. There is no awareness of this i mportant aspect i n the d raft
declaration .

I t i s acknowledged on a l l sides that there i s lack of releva nt statistics

that m a kes it i mpossible for developing countries to assess the costs a nd
benefits of services l i be ra lization i n various sectors. The re is a mandatory
provision i n GATS for m a king such a n assessment before starting on a
new round of liberalizatio n . However, this basic shortcoming is ig nored
a nd the negotiations a re sought to be pushed at full speed .

All i n a l l , the d raft decla ration is a blatant exercise i n sell-serving

tactics of the trade ma jors. What is worse, it shows com plete lack of
sensitivity to the concerns of the vast majority of the peoples of the
world. It deserves to be rejected o utright.
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

36
4 .0 Agriculture
4 . 1 Biggest U S Growers Pocket 7 1 % Farm Sops
9 Septem ber 2003, Reuters, Washington

The biggest American farmers received 7 1 % of US farm su bsidies

since 1 995, environmentalists said on Tuesday in a report that could fuel
the fight in Congress for tighter limits on. Farm supports. Activists say
mammoth payments to l a rge operators gives them the cash to outbid
their smaller neighbors for land a n d equipment. The result is higher
operating costs, they say, but no im ptovement in farm income.
According to the Environmenta l Working G roup (EWGL a Washington
based activist organisation , the top 1 0% of US g rowers col lected a n
average $278,932 a year. Their share o f payments steadily g rew from
1 995, when the elite g roups of farmers got 55 % of government
payments.

Billions of doll a rs a re funneled to American g ra i n , cotton a nd

soyabean g rowers each yea r: Farmers a nd ra nchers a lso receive federa l
money to idle e nvironme ntal ly sensitive land or to control manure run-off
from fields a nd feedlots.

Riceland Foods, a 9 ,000 member co-operative in Arkansas, was the

la rgest subsidy recipient in 2002 with $ 1 1 0 million.

The subsidy list indirectly incl uded Bernard Ebbers, the former chief
executive of telephone com pa ny World-Corn, which fil ed the largest
bankru ptcy case in history last year. Ebber was part owner of Joshua
Timber, which got $44J 61 since 1 995, mostly for land conservation.
Ebbers was not s hown as receiving money directly. The EWG released its
report as the WTO was meeti ng to d iscuss how to cut farm subsidies.
37
-Reuters
Top prog ra ms in the United States, 1 995-2002"

Rank Program Number of Recipients Su b si d y Tota l

1 Corn Subsidies 1 ,365,459 $34,552,627,460

2 Wheat Subsidies 1 , 1 44, 887 $ 1 7,247,966,489

3 Conservation Reserve Programme 627,61 8 $ 1 3,0 1 8, 1 73,430

4 Soybean Subsidies 7 9 1 ,340 $ 1 0,967,530,537

5 Cotton Subsidies 204, 1 82 $ 1 0 , 663, 566,847

6 Rice Subsidies . 54,4 03 $ 7 , 795,799, 1 1 6

7 Sorghum Subsidies 51 2,005 S3, 1 93,985, 1 7 1

8 livestock Subsidies 65 6, 2 55 $2,2 56,567,708

9 Dairy Program Subsidies 1 42,860 $2,01 8,407,457

10 Barley Subsidies 301 ,554 $ 1 ,4 1 1 ,386, 1 47

11 Peanut Subsidies 67,063 $ 1 ,2 65,735,609

12 Environmental Quality Incentives Program 84, 72 3 $ 542 , 4 57 , 7 9 1

13 Tobacco SubSidies 342, 1 43 $479 ,469,7 89

14 Sunflower Subsidies 40,688 $377,346, 688

15 Sugar Subsidies 8,036 $299,778,377

16 Oat Subsidies 570,596 $ 1 83,445,543

17 Apple Subsidies 8,457 $ 1 69,4 37 ,7 69

18 Wool Subsidies 64,847 $ 1 56, 1 92,61 1

19 Canola Subsidies 1 4,51 3 $ 1 5 1 , 3 6 1 ,0 1 0

20 Sheep Meat Subsidies 27,704 $55,827 ,008

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

,< Retrieved o n October 1 8" 2003 >

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European& spending
i ndustry. This is
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the world's
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39
4 . 2 M r. Lee Kyu n g H o e
La Jornada, (Mexico), Septe m ber 23, 2003 , by Luis Herna ndez Navarro
Tra nslated from Spa nish by
Gisela Sanchez, Pa u l i na Novo,
Ana Mateos and Peter Rosset
( Food Fi rst) . Original Spanish
version 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
com panions, he ca rried a
symbolic coffin of the World
Trad e O rga n ization (WTO) a long
the streets of "Vipers nest" (what
the name "Ca ncun" means i n the
Maya n l a ng uage), while
delivering his pol itical will and
testament. The fol lowing day
Chusok day (the date that
com memorates the dead i n
Korea) - b e cli m bed the police
barricade which sepa rated the
m u ltitude from the palatial
meeting place of the WTO,
40
addressed the crowd , a n d
p l unged a sma l l Swiss Army knife
i nto his chest. He was wea ring a
sign that sa id: "The WTO Kills
Farmers."
Mr. Lee chose his tim e to die,
i n the sam e way that he chose his
mission in l ife. Accordi ng to his
older sister, Lee Kya ng, "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 actually m u rders peasants
a round the world.
Although su icides a mong
fam i ly fa rmers a round the world
are common, very few mem bers
of the mass media seem to be
concerned a bout it. More tha n a
thousand peasa nts committed
s uicide i n India between 1 998
and 1 999, for exa m ple. Many of
� ..... �
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.k
ll
them did it by drin ki n g pesticides.
I n England a nd Ca nada the
suicide rate a mong farmers is
twice the national average. I n
Wales o n e farmer commits
suicide every week. In the U.S.
Midwest suicide is the fifth largest
cause of death a mong farmers.
I n C h i na peasa nts a re the social
group with the highest su icide
rate. In Australia the frequency of
farmer i mmolations is rou g h ly
equa l to the rate of accidental
death. Mr. Lee had to take his
own life so that the media woul d
recog n ize what is happen ing to
farmers in our world.
Sadly his sacrifice has been
j udged in genera l with a lack of
understanding a nd consideration.
The weight of the Christian
tradition has i mpeded some '
people from seeing his true
generosity. Just as religious rites
began before our own i ndividual
existence, and have a l ife of their
own, Mr. Lee's immolation is a n
act which transcends a si mple
i ndividual decision. By taking h is
own l ife, Mr. Lee has g reatly
strengthened the g lobal strugg le
for the survival of a millenarian
cu lture now threaten ed by free
trade pol icies : the culture 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 m uch
more tha n a commodity for the
rura l people of Korea : it is a n
a ncestral way of l ife . The Korean
 word bap is used both for
cooked rice as wel l a s for food in
genera l . If you ask a Korean
child what they see on the Moon,
they wil l tell you they see rabbits
m i l l i n g rice i n a g ia nt mortar. A
large proportion of the total
labor force in Korea is dedicated
to the c ultivation of rice. Because
of rice, rural villages are located
i n the midst of the very rice
paddies where villagers work.
Rice represents 52% of
agricultura l p roduction.
At the end of the 1 980s,
South Korea started to red uce
agricultural subsidies a nd open
its markets to food i mports,
than ks to the agricultura l reforms
of the Urug uay Rou n d [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 pop u lation of 6 . 6 million
farmers. Today this n u m ber has
d ropped to j ust 3.6 m i l lion.
S u bsidized rice exports to Korea
from the U.S. a re fou r times
cheaper than the rice produced
by Korean farmers. Opening the
Korean market u nder the WTO
to Washington's exports is
proving to be the ruin of farmers
in this Asi a n country.
Mr. Lee's death must be seen
as a n attem pt to defend his
culture . A final attem pt after
havin g exha usted many other
paths. Earlier be built a
demonstration farm of twenty
hectares. H e wanted to show
how farmers cou ld s u rvive,
42
increase their production and
compete despite fal l i ng crop
prices. But in 1 999 he lost the
farm to foreclosure by the bank.
On thirty sepa rate occasions he
protested with h unger strikes, and
even tried to ta ke his life once
before as an a ct of protest
against the WTO and the
U ru g uay Round. He was elected
to his state leg islature three times
as a fa rmer representative . Yet
none of these efforts succeeded
in defending farmers from free
trade.
The mea ning of his
i mmolation is this: it is a n act to
stop the further suffering of h is
people. As pa rt of h is last will
and testament he left a
note sayi n g :
lilt is better that a s i n g l e person
sacrifices their life for ten people,
than ten people sacrifice the i r
l ives for just one."
As the phi losopher Carl
Jaspers once wrote: "suicide is a
testament to the dignity of men, it
is a n expression of their
freedom". Mr. Lee's sacrifice
rem i nds us that, i n times of crisis,
hope comes from those who,
through their example of human
dignity as part of a larger
movement, become our u n ique
rol e models.
 ,.
.
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4 . 3 Food and Agriculture Out of the WT O ! I ndia Out

of the WT O ! Say Karnataka Farmers
Banga lore, September 1 0, 2003.
Excerpts from a report by Shalmali Gutta l,
Focus on the Global South .

Over 35,000 fa rmers from across Ka rnata ka State converged in

Bangalore--the state ca pita l-today to protest the sta rt of the Fifth
Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Orga nisation (WTO) in
Cancun, Mexico. The ral lying 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 ral ly was organised by the Ka rnataka State Farmers'

Association-Ka rnata ka Rajya Ryota Sangha (KRRS) and joined by the
Dalit Sa ngharsh Sa mithi (DSS) and representatives from the Ta mi Nadu
Farmers' Association.

The main issues raised i n the ral ly were the impact of the WTO's
Ag reement on Ag riculture on small fa rmers i n I ndia and the I ndian
Govern ment's fai l u re to protect its fa rmers from ruin and literal ly,
death. Burdened by crop fai l u res, low com modity prices and heavy
debt burdens, at least 280 fa rme rs have com mitted suicide in
Ka rnataka from April to September. The entire gathering resolved that
food is the right of eve ry person a nd . ca n not be left to the whims or
dictates of the ma rket.

"Farmers' suicides and libera lisation are directly related," said

Professor M. D. Naju ndaswa my, 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 94 7] , but there were su icides even in that year. The reason for this is
liberalisation, which has resu lted in fal l i ng prices, fall ing i ncomes and
i ncreasing debts." According to Professor N a n j u ndaswa my, the KRRS
asked the Government of India to not sig n the agree ment establishing
the WTO as fa r back as 1 992 . In 1 994 , KRRS leaders met the
leadership of all political parties a nd made the case for I ndia to pull
out of the WTO. 'j\ta l Bihari Vaj payee was the leader of the
opposition at that time and told me not worry so much and that I ndia
could always withdraw from the WTO with six months notice" he said.
" Now we demand that I ndia come out of the WTO, a nd in solida 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 linked the impacts of trade liberalisatio n to
other sectors. I n the words of H .S. Masti from Bagalkot District,
" I mported goods will be sold at very low prices and our own
producers will be made useless. It is not o n ly sma ll farmers, but a lso
other producers i n our villages such as ca rpenters and goldsmiths who
will be a ffected by cheap i mports. In our villages these producers
depend on the farmers for their livelihood and wil l also die if farmers
die. If we cannot feed ourselves, how ca n we feed others?" Mr. Masti
a lso spoke a bout the m u ltiplying effects of agricultu re i nputs and
genetically modified pla nt varieties to local food and environ menta l
quality. " Because of i nputs like Rou nd-up, dangerous contaminants
a re getting i nto our soil a nd entire food system . And no matter what
inputs we u se, our food stil l does not meet inte rnational standa rds. BT
corn and BT cotton have been introduced i nto our environment. O u r
cattle cannot eat B T corn a nd animals that feed in the area where BT
cotton is planted have died. We do not want such a system."

The expanding a m bit 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 . According to K . Sel lamuthu from the Tamil Nadu Fa rmers'
Association , oilseeds (g roundnut, sunflower, g i ngelly and coconut)
curre ntly fetch average prices from Rs. 35-50 per l itre. I n com plia nce
with WTO requ irements, I ndia has a g reed to im port pal m oil from
Malaysia , which will sel l at Rs. 1 0 per l itre. This will devastate local
oilseed produce rs. Similarly, the current ma rket price of wheat is Rs. 1 3
per kg, but i n com plia nce with WTO requirements, wheat from the U nited
States (US) wil l e nter I ndian m arkets at Rs. 4 per kg . "The style of
productio n i n the US is different from I ndia . They farm large tracts of land
with mechanised technology. I n I ndia, we have zero agriculture subsidies
a nd farmers are a l ready committing suicide; the a g riculture sector itself is
committing suicide. Seventy crores of people [seven h u nd red m i l l ion] wi l l
b e impacted b y the WTO, a l l directly in the agriculture sector. Arun Jaitly
has also said this, but whether the I ndian Government will u phold this in
Cancun or agree to quit the WTO is not certain. Based on the resu lts of
Cancun, we will make further plans for future actions." Mr. Sellamuthu
added, "In rura l a reas, 80 out of 1 00 children still go to school without
cha ppals [slippers] . B ringing food a n d agriculture u nder the WTO's web
will not work for developing countries like I ndia ./f

The rally today was not an isolated or one-off event. Since 1 992,
fa rme rs' movements in I ndia have staged u nified protests against the
Dunkel D raft and the esta blishme nt of the WTO, which m arked the
i nclusion of agricultu re i nto the WTO. Since the launch of the cu rrent
negotiations under the Doha work progra m me, farmer a nd fisher
movements across the developing a nd developed world have joined
hands and dema nded that libera l isation of the agricu ltu re sector be
halted, and that gove rnments prioritise the needs of their small, family­
based a g riculture producers over the interests of middle-men, agri­
business compan ies a nd trans-national food companies. A significant
worry for peasant a n d a rtisan a l fisher movements in developing countries
is that thei r governments will trade agriculture away for concessions in
other sectors such as services, foreign direct i nvestment a nd industry.

The farmers at the rally were wel l aware of India's negotiatin g position
in the C a ncun Ministerial meeti ng, but were not confident that the I ndian
Government will meet the challenge to protect them from the onslaught
of further trade libe ra lisation . Women in the gathering were familiar with
the rules of the GATT/WTO a n d 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 cou ntry a re
committing suicide and o u r government is responsible for this. Jaitly is
spea king some sense now in the WTO. But we have to send a strong
message to h i m that he does not change h is position in Cancun u nder
pressure from delegates from certai n other countries. Va jpayee m ust get
the same message . "

45
 5.0 Official Documents
5 . 1 Letter to Pierre Pettigrew from Arun Jaitely
and Rafidah Aziz
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,

I
I
O n behalf of the delegations from Antigua & Ba rbuda, Bangladesh
(on behalf of the LDCs), Barbados, Botswana, Belize, China, C u ba ,
Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, India, I ndonesia, Jamaica,
Kenya, Malaysia , Nigeria, P h i l i ppines, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St.
V i ncent & the Gre na d ines, S u r i n a m , Ta nza n i a , Tri nidad & Tobago,
Uganda, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe, we wish to convey to you
their views on the fou r new issues of 'Relationship between Trade a n d
I nvestment', ' I ntera ction between Trad e a n d Com petition Po l i cy',
'Transparency in Government Procure ment' and 'Trade Facilitation' .

The a bove delegations have concerns a bout the i m pact of m ulti latera l

I rules on the fou r new issues on their domestic policies a n d consider that
they have yet to fu l ly comprehend the implications of having WTO rules

I
on these issues. These concerns i nclude a mong others the implications
on domestic policies a nd ava i lability of resources. The issues a re highly
techn ical a nd complex and require m uc h more a n alysis.

I
46
 These delegations a lso consider that many developing countries do
not have the capacity to implement obligations a rising out of commitments
such m u ltilatera l rules wil l enta i l , and there were a lso doubts on the
benefits of WTO fra meworks on the new issues. A n u m ber of other
countries, a part from the a bove, have also conveyed similar views at the
open ended meeting of the faci litation g roup chai red by you. Hence, we
note that there is no explicit consensus on the modalities for negotiations
as per the Doha mandate.

The a bove delegations also have concerns a bout the process

through which these issues have been brought to this Ministerial
without a ny p rior d iscussion on the modalities.

The a bove delegations a re of the firm view that there is 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 Ministeria l
Declaration (JO B (03) 1 ISO/Rev. 1 ) i n lieu o f Paras 1 3 to 1 6 .

With our best wishes,

You rs si ncerely,
Dato' Seri Rafidah Aziz Arun Jaitely
Minister of International Trade & Industry Minister for Commerce & Industry
Government of Malaysia Government of India

Annex

Para g ra ph 1 3 :
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AN D INVESTM ENT

We ta ke note of the discussions that have taken place in the Working

G roup on the Relationship between Trade a nd I nvestment since the Fou rth
Ministeria l Conference. Given the a bse nce of explicit consensus, there is
no basis for the commencement of negotiations in this a rea . Accordingly,
'
we d ecide that further cla rification of the issues be u nde rtaken in the
Worki ng G roup. Any negotiations in this a rea shal l be u ndertaken only
on the basis of explicit consensus at the Sixth Ministeri a l Conference on
the mod a l ities- of such negotiations.

We recognize the needs of developing a nd least-developed countries

for enhanced support for technica l assistance and capacity building i n
this a rea, including policy ana lysis a n d development s o that they may
better eval uate the i m pl ications of closer m u ltilateral cooperation for
their development pol icies a nd objectives, a nd human and institutional
development. To this end, we sha l l continue to work in cooperation with
other relevant intergovernmenta l orga nisations, includ i ng U NCTAD, a nd

47
 th ro u g h a p p ro p ri ate reg i o n a l a nd b i l ate ra l c h a n n e l s, to p rovide
strengthened a nd adequately resourced assistance to respond to these
needs.

Para g raph 1 4:
I NTERACTION BETWEEN TRADE AND COM P ETITION P OLICY

We take note of the discussions that have ta ke n place i n the Working

Group on the I nteraction between Trade a nd Competition Policy since
the Fou rth M i n isterial Confe re n ce . Given the a bs e n ce of exp l icit
consensus, there is no basis for the com mencement of n egotiations in
this a rea . Accordingly, we decide that further clarification of the issues
be u nderta ken i n the Working G roup. Any negotiations in this a rea shall
be undertaken only on the basis of explicit consensus at the Sixth Ministerial
Conference on the modalities of such n egotiations.

We recogn ize the needs of developing and least-developed countries

for enhanced support for techn ica l assista nce a nd ca pacity building i n
this a rea, i ncluding policy ana lysis and development s o that they may
better eval uate the im plications of closer m u ltilate ra l cooperation for
thei r development pol icies a nd objectives and h u m a n and institutiona l
development. To this end we shall conti n ue to work i n cooperation with
othe r relevant intergovern menta l org a nisations, including U NCTAD, a nd
t h ro u g h a p p ro p ri ate reg i o n a l a nd b i l a te ra l c h a n n els, to p rovide
strength ened and adequately resourced a ssistance to respond to these
needs.

P a ragra p h 1 5 :
TRA NSPARE NCY I N GOVERNMENT P ROCU REMENT

We ta ke note of the discussions that have taken place i n the Working

Group o n Transparency in Govern ment P rocu rement since the Fou rth
Ministerial Confere nce. Given the a bsence of explicit 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 nderta ken in the
Working Group. Any negotiations sha l l be limited to the tra nsparency
aspects a nd therefore, wil l not restrict the scope for countries to g ive
preferences to domestic suppl ies a nd suppl iers. Any negotiations i n this
a rea sha ll be u ndertaken only on the basis of exp licit consensus at the
Sixth Ministerial Conference on the modal ities of such negotiations.

We com mit ourselves to conti n u i n g adequate technical assista n ce

a nd support for ca pacity building duri ng the clarification process .

Paragraph 1 6 :
TRADE FACI LITATION

48
 We take note of the discussions that have taken place on Trade Facilitation
in the Council for Trade in Goods since the Fou rth Ministerial Conference.
Given the a bs e n ce of exp l icit consen s u s, t h e re is no b a s is for the
com mencement of negotiations i n this a rea . Accordingly, we decide that
further clarification of the issues be u nderta ken in the Council for Trade in
Goods. Any negotiations i n this a rea sha l l be undertaken only on the basis
of explicit consensus at the Sixth Ministerial Conference on the modalities of
such negotiations.

We commit ourselves to continuing adequate technical assistance and

support for capacity bu ilding i n this a rea .

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

Text of the Statement made by Mr. C hairman ,

C o m merce Minister Arun Jaitley at t he
Heads of Delegation meeting The I ndian delegation wou l d l ike to than k you a nd the facilitators for
respon d i n g to the Sept e m ber 1 3 draft
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 developing
countries. I note that the pretence of development dimensions of the
Doha Agenda has fina l ly been discarded confirming the apprehension
expressed by me at the plenary session that this is mere rhetoric.

At the outset I would l i ke to asso<;:iate myself with the statement made

by distinguished Minister of Brazil on behalf of G 2 1 on agriculture .
Not only are the distortions prevalent today being perpetuated, but a
slew of new measures to increase such distortions a re bei ng proposed.
The continuation of Blue Box in an enlarged form without a ny promise
of significa nt reductions a n d phasing out in future is a case in point. To
give comfort to m ajor subsidizi ng countries, distorting provisions in the
Amber Box a re sou g ht to be continued. Both these measures wil l result
in su bsidizin g exports of many items from these cou ntries. I nstead of
negotiating disci plines o n the Green Box, we have been reduced merely
to reviewing the criteria of Green Box measures. Export subsidies a re
not only allowed to continue but are sought to be increased through a
new para l lelism p rocess . We believe that we a re com po u nding the
distortions of the U ruguay Round by adding some more to them . The
heig htened ambition on ma rket a ccess pil lar, which ironical ly provides
Special a nd Differentia l treatment in favour of developed cou ntries, is
utterly i ncomprehensible a nd extremely i nsensitive to the large numbe r
of peopl e l iving i n poverty i n these cou ntries. H ow c a n w e expect
developing countries to reduce tariffs on a n u m ber of items to between

49
 0% a n d 5% when the distortions against which such ta riffs are supposed
to com pensate are sought to be enha nced?

The Geneva process and the consultations i n the last three days have
clearly revea led that the clarification process on Singapore issues has
n ot yet ru n its cou rse. In the a bsence of clarity on many elements, a
m a j o rity of t h e m e m be rs h i p of t h e WTO have rejected l a u n c h of
negotiations on these issues a nd sought a continuation of the clarification
process. Ig noring this, Mr. C h a i rm a n , you have proposed lau n ch of
negotiations i n trade fac i l itat i o n a nd tra n s pa re n cy i n g ove r n m e n t
procurement. T h e section o n i nvestment wou l d seem to assume that
negotiations would commence on the basis of a Genera l Council decision
on a date corresponding to fina lisation of moda lities in agricu lture a nd
NAMA. The text on competition policy on the other hand refers to possible
negotiations an obvious attem pt to accommodate the i nterest of some
developed cou ntries. There is no reference to fu r:ther explicit consensus
either in the paragra phs on i nvestment or com petition policy. There is

a lso no expl icit consensus at present on any of the issues. It would a ppea r
that the views expressed by a large n u m ber of developing a nd lea st
developed cou ntries on the need for further cla rification of issues throug h
a Ministeria l Conference document and throug h a letter addressed to
the facilitator by my Malaysian col league and me yesterday, have been
com pletely ignored . Th is, Mr Chairman, is yet a nother i nstan ce of the
deliberate neglect of the views of a large n u m ber of developing countries.
It represents a n attem pt made to thrust the views of a few cou ntries o n
many developing cou ntries.

On NAMA, we want a specific reference to the Chairman's form ula

for fu rther work. O n sectora l i nitiatives, we believe that the pa rticipation
has to be volunta ry. The present text is, in fact, an attem pt to make the
sectoral i nitiative mandatory. To reflect less tha n fu ll reciprocity in reduction
comm itme nts, the end-ta riff for developing co u ntries in the sectoral
i n itiatives m ust be higher tha n that of the develo ped cou ntries.

We a re disa ppoi nted that no time fra me has been prescribed fo r

resolving the outstan d i ng implementation issues. We a re of the view that
all outstanding issues should be addressed by a negotiating g roup u nder
the TNC a n d thereafter decisions adopted by the Genera l Council by
March 2004 . On S&D Issues, we strongly support the Africa G roups
position that has been stated many times i n the past and therefore do
not e ndorse the present decision.

We a re u na ble to understa nd why on the issue of cotton subsidies

the d raft text deflects attention from the specific co u rse of action
suggested by Beni n a nd th ree other cou ntries by seeking to address
d istortions i n products other than cotton .

50
 Mr. Chairman, we have to express our d isa ppointment that the revised
text b rought out by you has a rbitrarily d is rega rded views and concerns
expressed by us. We have so for constructively engaged in the entire post
Doha process i n the hope that this is a development round. We wonder
now whether development here refers to only further development of the
developed countries. Conseq uently, M r. Chairman we feel that this text
does not lend itself to a ny mea n i n gful d ia logue. We stil l believe that this
conference m ust be brought to a successful conclusio n . We hope that
circumsta nces and environment will be created to enable us to participate
constructively.

5 . 3 The Cancun Ministerial Statement 1 4 September 2 003

Trade m inisters issue a statement WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WT/MI N (03)/W/24 ,
a d m i tting failure to arrive at 1 4 September 2003 (03.494 1 )
a consensus M I N I STERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session Ca ncu n , 1 0· 1 4 September
2003

Ministerial Statement

1 . As we conclude o u r Fifth Min iste rial Conference in Cancun, we wou ld

l i ke to express our deep a ppreciation to the Government and people of
Mexico for the excel lent o rg a n ization and wa rm hospital ity we h ave
received in Ca ncu n .

2 . At this meetin g w e have welcomed Cambodia and Nepal as t h e first

least-developed cou ntries to accede to the WTO since its esta blishment.

3. All participants have worked h a rd a nd constructively to make progress

a s req u i red u n d e r the Doha m a n d ates . We have, i ndeed , made
considerable progress. However, more work needs to be done i n some
key a reas to e n a b l e us to p roceed towa rds the con c l u s i o n of th e
negotiations i n fulfil me nt of the comm itments we took at Doha .

4 . We therefore instruct our officia ls to continue working on outstanding

issues with a renewed sense of u rgency and p urpose and taking fully i nto
account a l l the views we have expressed i n this Conference. We ask the
Chairman of the Genera l Council , working i n close co-ope ration with
the Director-General, to coord inate this work and to convene a meeting
o f t h e G e n e ra l C o u n c i l a t S e n i o r O ff i c i a l s l eve l n o l a te r t h a n
1 5 Decembe r 2003 to take the action necessary a t that stage to ena ble
us to move towa rds a successful and timely conclusion of the negotiations.
We shall continue to exercise close personal supervision of thi s process.

51
5 . We will bring with us i nto this new phase all the valuable work that has
been done at this Conference. In those a reas where we have reached a
h i g h level of convergence o n texts, we u nd e rta ke to m a i nt a i n this
convergence whi le working for a n acceptable overa l l outcome.

6 . Notwithstanding this setback, we reaffirm a l l our Doha Declarations

and Decisions and recom m it ourselves to working to i m plement them
fully a nd faithful ly.

52

':r. tj..�
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6 .0 Post Collap se
6 .1 Via Campesina
I nternational farmer's movement
Afovimiento campesino internacional
Mouvement paysan international
Secreta ria operative/operative secretariat: Apdo Postal 3628 Tegucigalpa, MDC Honduras
Tel & fax + 504 235 99 1 5 E-mail: viacam@g b m . hn

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

The Fifth Ministerial 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 Ministerial Conference. There was no
Decla ration expressing any theme upon which there was agreement
a nd there was no tim e to d evelop consensus on a future agenda.
This, together with the a nticipated withdrawa l of many countries from
the South, created confusion and chaos in the Ministerial
Conference.

Despite the mobil ization of strang presence of police and m i litary

forces, on September 1 3th , rural organizations, youth, women a nd
other sectors succeeded I n tea ring down the ba rricade i mposed by
the Mexica n Government a nd the WTO in attempts to make visible
our presence and our proposals.

53
 From Septem ber 8 - 1 4th we engaged in significa nt days of strug gle,
first, withi n the fra mework of the International Peasant a nd Indigenous
Foru m , and later, in diverse street demonstrations both i nside a n d
outside the convention center where the negotiators were
concentrated. The peasa nt a nd i ndigenous march of September 1 Qlh
set the tone for the resistance and struggle of the fol lowing days.

On September 1 3th with patience and g reat courage, one h u ndred

women from all over the world dismantled piece by piece the
ba rricade that im peded entry to the convention center. The Korean
peasants together with large part of the crowd joined in this action a nd
using thick ropes we torn down the walls. This was a symbol of the
WTO that would soon collapse i n Cancun . The thousa nds of police
a nd m i litary stood there ready to quell the protestors but no one was
i ntent on confronting them . O u r non-violent confrontation was with
WTO, not with the police and the m i lita ry.

Demonstrators burned two effig ies of the WTO a nd sat down. Then
white flowers were placed in homage of our friend Lee who g ave his
l ife to the people's strugg le, the struggle against the WTO, the struggle
for a more just and humane world. On September 1 4th the WTO had
coll apsed.

In Cancu n we encountered various social 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 lism. For exa m ple, a mong the most radica l there is the "Black
Block." The Via Cani pesina, being consistent with its demands,
opened spaces for dialogue and conve rgence with the youth . This
yielded extremely positive resu lts a nd their contribution was key to
achieving our objective through nonviolent means. The youth have
expressed a desire to continue working with the Via Ca mpesina i n
future actions u nder the conditions
mentioned a bove.

There is n o dou bt that the sacrifice of ou r friend Lee served to

a n imate, strengthen a nd radicalize the struggle of those who were I n
Cancun a n d those social activists engaged i n actions of mobilization
a round the world. His courage a nd deals will l ive with us, we wil l n ever
forget them . Lee contributed e normously to our victory and the
dera i l i n g of the WTO.

The governments of the U nited States ( U S) and the E u ropea n U nion

(EU) have demonstrated themselves tota l ly i ncapable of u nderstanding
and taking i nto account the legitimate i nterests of people. Thei r
a rrogant a nd i nflexi ble m a n ne r, a nd blackma i l i ng practices, drove

54
countries of the T h i rd World to form a block of opposition led by
Brazi" I ndia a n d China (G22) against the US and the EU. The g roup
of governments from ACP cou ntries (Africa, Ca ri b bean and Pacific)
a lso showed opposition . These initiatives contri buted to stop the
Min isteria l . Via Cam pesina welcomes this opposition- but does not
agree with the proposals of the G22 regarding ag ricu lture . Increasing
l i bera l ization and market a ccess do not resolve problems of poverty
a nd social exclusion of mil lions of people i n the worl d . O n the
contrary this will worsen the situatio n .

The President o f the E u ropean U nion h a s i nvited the Via

Ca m pesina to a dia logue on agriculture. We a re considering this
proposal but we need to receive messages from the Europea n U nion
that express a real will to change its Common Ag riculture Pol icy a nd
current i nternationa l trade rules.

In Ca ncun the EU claimed 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 recoqnised in the
q reen box. The use of these direct 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 facilitate du mping on i nternation a l
ma rkets. T h e reaction o f some is to a bolish su bsidies i n a g ricultu re a l l
together. However this would b e a nother b low for peasant based
production . Public s upport for sustainable peasa nt-based ag riculture,
directed to those who n eed it most, is a key demand in the North a nd
the South . However is critical to stop overproduction in export
countries th rough supply management schemes and that countries
m ust be able to protect themselves from low-priced i m ports.

The coll a pse of the WTO is a result of a profound crisis with i n the
neoli beral model. It is u rgent that we continue to stre ngthen our
movements , our alternative proposa ls. C reating a n open tra nspa rent
and constructive dia log ue a mong ourselves is a l l the more necessary
to adva nce, i n our strateg ies of strugg le.

The WTO Kil ls Fa rmers !

Ta ke the WTO out of a g riculture, food and
fisheries !
Towa rds Peop les ' Food Sovereignty !

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

International Co-coord inati ng Commi ssion of Via Cam pesi na
Teg uciga l pa , 23rd of Septem ber 2 003

55
6 . 2 WTO W I ROD HI B HARATIYA JAN ABHIYAN
(I NDIAN PEOPLE'S CAMPAI G N AGAI NST WTO)
PRESS RE LEASE, 2 0 Septe m be r 2003

WTO WIRO D H I BHARATIYA JAN ABH IYAN welcomes the recent

developments at Ca ncu n . The most im porta nt development is the re­
emergence of the solidarity of the South . Ea rly i nd ications were visible
i n Geneva in the formation of G2 1 , on a g riculture, on the eve of the
Cancun meeting. The role played by B razil, China, I ndia and South
Africa in this respect deserves congratulations. Not only because it
exposed the self-serving and u nfa i r proposals of U SA and EU on
agricultu re but a lso beca use it helped build the cross -continenta l
fou ndation for the re-emergence of the solida rity of the South wh ich
was witnessed in Cancu n .

The deadlock a t the Cancun meeting has, a t least for the time
bei ng, held back serious threats to our a g ricu lture a nd our a utonomy
of economic policy making in rega rd to investments and othe r related
a reas.

The revised proposals on agriculture put forwa rd at the Cancun

meeting were too soft on U SA a nd EU i n rega rd to their commitments
to red uce d omestic suppo rt and export s u bsidies; but the proposals
req u i red us to red uce ta riffs substa ntially a n d ra pid ly and i ndeed
asked for certa i n ta riff lines to be bound at nominal rates between 0
and 5 % . . This implied general worsening of the d istortions and
unfai rness in the world a g riculture ma rket. Even worse, this posed a
serious danger to o u r a g riculture and to the s u rviva l of the mil lions
dependent o n a g riculture for their l ivelihood . That G-2 1 rejected
these proposa ls is a matter of satisfaction. However, the revised
proposa ls have exposed the inherent wea kness of the gove rnment
bel ief that tariff instrumentality is adequ ate to protect this vital sector
from the onslaught of the m ulti national agri-businesses of U SA a n d
EU. At Ca ncun, i t was p recisely t h e ta riff i nstru menta l ity which was
sought to be bl unted and made virtu a l ly useless for us. We, the refore,
reiterate that n oth ing short of claiming and, asserti ng our right to
impose quantitative restrictions on a g ricu ltu ra l i m po rts ca n save o u r
agricu lture a n d safegua rd the l ivelihood of the seventy percent o f our
populatio n . O nce agai n, we u rge the Government to incorporate this
element as the central pa rt of thei r strategy o n agricultu ra l
negotiations i n WTO.

The dead lock i n Cancun has a lso helped to kee p the form a l
negotiations on t h e so-cal led Singa po re issues a t bay. And this h a s

56
been made possible again beca use of the developing countries
i ncluding the groups of ACP (African, Caribbea n , Pacific) countries, the
Least Developed Countries, the African Union and others like I ndia,
Brazil a nd Ma laysia holding together and i nsisti ng that clarification
process m ust continue a n d that there was no consensus on starting the
negotiations. While this is welcome, it must be remembe red that the
legacy of the Doha Declaration whereby the i nvestment, competitio n
policy, government procurement and trade facil itation were brought o n
the agenda is still a l ive . And there were reports that the government had
i ndicated wil l in g ness to accom modate the developed cou ntries i n rega rd
to the commencement of negotiations on govern ment procurement a n d
trade facilitation. We reiterate our oppositio n to multilatera l disciplines
on a l l the Singapo re issues and urge the government not to agree to
a ny proposal for such disci pli nes on these issues.

O n the issue of Services, we n ote that at Cancun , there was an

attem pt to reduce the aim of the n egotiations simply to "progressively
higher levels of l i bera l ization", whereas Genera l Agreement on Trade i n
Services (GATS) itself recog nizes the development d imension explicitly
and unam biguously. Also, there was no recogn ition that p rovision of
services l ike Education, Hea lth, Water S u pply, which constitute the basic
h u ma n rights, can not be a l lowed to be com modified and, therefore,
such sectors should be taken off from the n egotiating process. It is
acknowledged on a l l sides that there is lack of relevant statistics that
makes it impossible for developing countries to assess the costs and
benefits of services l i bera l ization i n various sectors. There is a mandatory
provision in GATS for making such a n assessment before starting on a
n ew round of libera lization. However, this basic shortcoming is ignored
and the negotiations a re sought to be p ushed at ful l speed . We urge the
government to take a clear stand o n 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 Singa pore issues is a positive
development. And a l l those i n the cam p of the South (whether in the
Conference hall or outside) who brought it a bout deserve
congratul ations. The task now is to ensure that the space gained at
Cancun is not allowed to be frittered away i n the next three months or
so, l . e . by the time the Genera l Council of WTO is sched u led to meet in
Geneva to take the process further. The d a nger is that trade majors will
now resort to the bilateral processes to complete the u nfinished tasks of
Cancu n . I m po rtant members of G -2 1 as wel l as the ACP and other
groupi ngs wil l be s u bjected to pressures and blandishments. And it is
here that the solida rity of the South will be tested.

57
 •
We u rge the government to fu rther strengthen its stand on
a griculture , the S i nga pore issues and services.
•
We u rge the government to reinforce the solida rity of the South i n
WTO a n d resist individua lly a nd col lectively the o nslaught of the
developed countries and their m ultin ationals.
•
We u rge the government to defeat the possible moves on the part
of the developed countries to make decision- making processes
u ndemocratic and n ontranspare nt i n the name of improvi n g
operationa l efficiency o f WTO.

6 . 3 Statement From Caribbean Countries

PRESS RELEAS E , September 1 4, 2003

Today the Fifth Ministe rial Conference of the World Trade

O rganizatio n i n Cancu n , Mexico, at which all Caribbea n Countries
were present, ended without a g reement on the many key issues. B i l led
as a Conference to adva nce the Doha Development Round of Trade
Negotiations, the Conference col l apsed on the key issues of
developing countries such as agricu lture, non -ag ricultura l market
access, sma l l economies and specia l and d ifferenti a l treatment, as
well as o n the so-coiled S i n ga pore issues; i nvestment, government
procurement, competition policy and trade facilitation measures.

The Novem be r 200 1 Doha Min isteria l Conference had agreed that
these issues would only be pursued after explicit consensus o n
modalities for their negotiation . No such consensus was reached .
Caribbean countries a n d other Members of the Africa n, Ca ribbean
and Pacific countries, the LDCs g roup, and the Africa n Union strongly
opposed the l a u nch of negotiations o n the Singa pore Issues.

Caribbean cou ntries, whose key i nterests are in the a reas of small
economies, special and d ifferential treatment, services, agriculture
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 ratio n a nd Decisions for a
Development Round. There was l ittle or no progress i n these issues .

I n bri n g i ng the Conference to a close, WTO Ministers instructed

their officials to continue working on the outstanding issues in Geneva
with a renewed sense of u rgency a n d commitment, taki n g i nto
account a l l the views expressed i n Cancu n . To this end they instructed
the Genera l Council to conven e at Senior Officia ls level no later tha n

58
December 1 5, 2003, to take the action necessary at that stage to
move the process forward to a successful a nd timely conclusion .

Caribbea n delegations share the general sense o f disappointment

at the l i mited achi evements of the Confere nce i n spite of the best
efforts of the hosts. O u r Ambassadors and regional negotiators m ust
therefore with resolve continue to engage thei r cou nte4 pa rts i n
Geneva a nd maintai n thei r continuing active role i n the process to
advance the development i nterests of the region.

Finally, the Caribbean delegation wou ld like to express their

a ppreciation for the efforts of the Chair a nd for the hospitality
extended by the Govern ment a nd people of Mexico.

6 . 4 Africans In The Forefront I n Cancun

1 5 September 2003, ISSU E D BY: AFRICAN PEOPLES CAUCUS MEXICO, CANCUN

Africa peoples' i m pact at the WTO Mi nisterial i n Cancun was out

of a l l proportion to the n u m bers present. While we were lacking i n
n u m bers of activists who could get to Mexico, the African Peoples
Caucus m ade up for this with our political convictions a bout our needs
and aims, our political experience i n mass actions, our strategic sense
and tactical skills, a nd the dyna mism of our political expression.

This was the widespread opinion amongst the other organisations

from all over the world a lso present in Cancun . In fact our impact was
so d ra matic that many were a mazed to learn that we were only a bout
a dozen i n the core group, a lthough there were other Africans 'on the
i nside' (accredited N GOs monitoring the positions of African
governments i n the WTO processes) who joined us at strategic points
a nd i n our strategic plan ning meetings.

On the one hand, we made powerful presentations in our meeti ng

on "Globa 1 isation a s Recolonisation", a nd testimonies from Africa n
activists "Defend ing our Services a nd 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 w hich was a focus of many of the NGO
activities Ion the outside'.

We a lso contributed to meetings set up by other organisations from

a round the world, such as the very big meetin g hosted by the
international network "Ou r World is Not for Sale". This exposed on the
many bilateral free trade agreements bei n g pursued by the powers,
even as they are engaged in so-cal led m ultilatera l n egotiations withi n

59
the WTO framework. I n this regard, a l ready evident for us i n Africa is
Washington's so-cal led African G rowth 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 cou nter-struggle is a l ready on i n this rega rd ! !

We a lso created o u r own d ra matic demonstration under o u r

ban ner declaring ''l\frican Peoples - Resisting the WTO", wearing our
d istinctive and much admired black and green T-shirts procla i mi ng
''l\frica is Not for Sale Africa no es a la Venta". We carried o u r
dozens o f h a n d - made placards declaring " People not Profits ! " . . . .
"Government! Compa nies! We say O u r Services a re N ot for Sale! " . . . .
" Free Trade Destroys our Livel ihoods! "la n d a n d Food Secu rity for Al l
- Down with the WTO! " . . . . "Fishers and land less People Say No to
the WTOI "No to free Trade - No to GMOs!# a n d many more.

This march u p to the i nfa mous barricade cutting us off from the
WTO a rea, attracted the attenti on of media from a l l over the world
and got ful l reporti n g al1d visual coverage i n many newspapers and on
i nternational television reports. We will share these i mages when we
get back home.

More i m portantly, our African demonstratio n received su pport from

other o rganisations from a round the world and everyone wanted to
wea r o u r wonderful black a nd g reen T-shirts. We made such a n
i mpact that when i t ca me to the m assive march ''l\gainst Globalisation
a nd Militarisation", on Saturday 1 3th, the common ca l l was for "the
Africa ns" to go to the front.

In fact it was o u r 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 kilometers away. And it was o u r 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 well-orga n ised Koreans with strong ropes which were pushed
through the breaks in the fence to p u l l it down. And as that symbolic
act was achieved and a roar of tri u m p h swel led up from the h uge
crowd, the first people t h rough the fence were African women shouting
"Down with the WTO ! Africa is not for Sale!

Once that the symbolic victory had been achieved the political ly
experienced a n d wel l-organised forces leading the m a rch, especia lly
the peasa nt and i nd igenous organisations from Mexico a n d a round
the world, did not seek or pravoke confrontations with the ra n ks of
Mexican police on the other side. They e ncouraged a l l the people
present to sit down, send out our politica l messages, a n d block off the

60
e ntire a rea ta prevent agents provocateu rs from giving the impression
that it was viole nce that was bei ng a imed at.

The march was a powerful expression not only of excellent

arg a nisation and pla nning but of our ability to build u nity in action,
and the political wisdom a n d skills that have been built u p i n the
g lobal peoples movement d u ri n g many experiences all over the world
in recent years.

And we a re im mensely proud that our Africa n people's

organisations played a centra l role in the events in Canc u n . Together
with our welcome of the defeat of the plans of the powerful countries
in the WTO meeting, we a lso note that Africa n governments held firm
to thei r positions. Some of them, including the South African
government, even remarked with pride that 'their' peoples
organisation s had played such a dynamic role on the outside.

Let us hold our governments to this recogn ition of our people's

organisation s and achievements. Let us ensure that they e ngage with
us a nd listen to o u r demands and advice when we a l l get back hame!
Let us ensure that we build on the victory in Cancun in the days ahead .
As we always say "A Luta Conti n ua ! !1/
6 . 5 Cancun Conclave : A New Sunrise
For Developing Countries
By Benny Kuruvilla, Peop les Reporter Vol 1 6, No: 1 8, Mumbai (September
25-0ctober 1 0 2003)

As tired trade delegates and j ubilant protestors left the Mexican

resort of Cancun after the collapse of the World Trad e Organisations
5th m i nisteri a l conference (September 1 0- 1 4 , 2003) i t sig naled a n
i m portant shift in power equations i n the 1 48 member org a ni sation.
When a massive grouping of African, Asian, Caribbean and Least
d eveloped countries refused to kowtow the diktats of the E U
(European U nion) a n d the U S, leading to the breakdown of tal ks o n
the last day, the significance of this combined act of defiance was n ot
lost to many. The World Bank chief James Wolfenso h n said the
Cancun a l liance marked the creation of a 1/ new paradigm in g lobal
financial relations for the 2 1 sl century" that empowers developing
countries against the rich industri a l nations. Developing countries,
comprisi ng two thi rds of the organisations membership, led the show
at Ca ncun, puttin g aside sign ificant d ifferences to form strong
alliances (which to the s u rprise of many stood the test of time and
pressu re) a nd submitted well researched a nd techn ical ly sound
negotiating proposals.

From Doha to Cancun :

Trade m i n isters make u p the h i ghest 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 ministeri a l . After the fai l u re of the 1 999 Seattle
m i nisteri a l , the 200 1 Doha m i nisteria l succeeded in launchi n g a n
ambitious work programme cal led the Doha Development Agenda.
Though developing countries were rel uctant to launch a n ew roun d of
complex negotiations, Robert Zoellick, the U n ited States Trade
Representative and the Europea n Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy
s uccessfully used the sympathy wave post the September 200 1 terrorist
attacks to successfully arg u e that the fai l u re to advance trade
negotiations in Doha wou l d be a boost to terrorism . Doha ma ndated
key negotiations on Agriculture, Services and TRIPS (Agreement on
Trade related aspects of I n tellectua l Property Rights)

Cancun was to mark an i mportant stop o n the road to com pleti ng

the a mbitious Doha rou nd of negotiations, which supposedly p ut ·
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 deadline. By fai l i ng to make adequate progress on i ssues

62
the developing countries believed constituted a genuine development
round what was 0 routine fue l l i ng station beca me a landmine.

The Hypocrisy:
The q uestion of agricultura l reform was the most contentious issue
at Cancun . It is now well documented that while developing countries
made substa ntive liberalisation com mitments, farm subsidies in the E U
a n d the U S have actua l ly i ncreased since the WTO's Agreement o n
Agriculture came i nto effect. Economists at t h e U N D P ( U n ited Nations
Development Progra mme) recently estimated that whi le the EU
provides a daily subsidy of US $ 2 . 7 per cow, half of I n d ia's
population live on less than $ 2 a day. This hypocrisy allows countries
like the EU to both protect its farm sector a n d d u m p its s u bsidised
prod ucts in developing country ma rkets. Not surprisingly the remova l
of qua ntitative restriction s i n Apri l 200 1 (fol lowing WTO stipulations) in
agricultura l com modities has been devastating for I ndia's smal l
farmers . Before Cancun, the European U n io n a n d the U n ited States
set u p a common negotiating framework to revive the sta lled tal ks o n
a g ricultura l libera lisation. Developing countries immediately
responded by critiquing it as fa iling on a l l th ree counts of red ucing
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 developing countries such as China, I ndia,
Brazil , 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.

Add ressing a packed press conference on the ope n i ng day of the

ministerial Brazi lia n minister Celso Amorim spea king o n behalf of the
g roup, emphasised that their cause was a just one as they represented
50% of the world's population and over 65% of fa rmers.

A g roup of fou r Western a n d Centra l African cou ntries (Burkino

Faso, Chad, Ben i n and Mali) a lso submitted a well-crafted joint
initiative on Cotton cal l i ng for the total elimi nation of cotton subsidies
by developed cou ntries and financial compensation for lost income
while the subsidies were being phased out. Cotton growers a re among
the most h eavily subsidised fa rmers in the U S, receiving more than $3
billion a year in subsid ies, according to the World Bank.

S i ng a pore issues :
Another pote ntia l battle loomed i n Cancun over what i s termed a s
the four Singapore issues. Since the 1 996 Singa pore m i nisterial the E U
and other developed countries have been trying to create new WTO
rules on: I nvestment, Competition policy, Government procu rement
and trade faci litation. Since then developing cou ntries have

63
consistently opposed the creation of a new set of com plex agreements
on these issues. At the 2001 Doha m i nisteria l I nd ia's then Com merce
Minister Murasoli Maran was widely credited with ens u ring that a ny
decision would need to be taken by 'explicit consensus' from a l l
mem ber cou ntries o f the WTO a t the Cancun m i n iste rial . On the
second day of the conference, in a defia nt show of strength, a group
of 70 developing countries held a press conference reite rating their
opposition to the la unch of a new round of negotiations on the
Singapore issues. The Malaysian Minister for I nternational Trade and
I ndustry Rafidah Aziz and I ndian Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley even
form a l ly presented a letter on behalf of these countries to the facilitator
of the working g ro u p on Singapore issues stating that the darificatory
process i n Geneva should conti nue,

Fundamenta l ly fl awed :
It was expected that the united a nd professiona l a pproach of the
developing cou ntries would be reflected in the d raft, which would form
the basis for the Cancun M i nisterial decla ration, But the document
rel eased on 1 3 September by the facilitators of the five working g ro u ps
was fundamenta l ly flawed; it showed that the views expressed by the
EU and U S on virtually all issues prevailed.

O n agricultural reform, the draft through a means of cyn ical l eg a l

jugglery a llowed t h e EU a nd t h e US to continue with their domestic
subsidies by simply shifting them from the trade distorting section to
the non- trade-d istorting one. On the issue of market access the
d eveloping countries were su bjected to even more tariff reductions.
On the crucial issue of elimination of export su bsidies provided by
developed countries there was no date mentioned for their elimination,
Addressi ng the press i m m ed iately a fter his form a l response to the d raft
at the Heads of Delegation meeting Mr. Arun Ja itley did not h ide his
disappointment/' I nstead of being sensitive to the concerns of
developing a nd least developed countries this d raft i ndicates that the
special and d iffere ntia l treatment in favour of developed countries has
been allowed to contin ue",

Even the cotton initiative, which received overwhe l m i ng suppo rt

from both developed and developing countries, was ignored.

Fina l Col l a pse:

The most b itterly contested i nsertion i n the new draft was the
proposal to l aunch negotiations on three of the Singapore issues, i n
particular o n the highly controversial issue of I nvestment.

Ministers then entered i nto the fin a l lap of round the clock
negotiations i n a n attem pt to find enough com mon ground to avert

64
total fa ilure. B ut Asi a n and African countries were determi ned to hold
o nto their pri ncipled positions and the meeting finally collapsed d u ring
the fin a l session on 1 4 Septe m ber when the EU a nd the US contin ued
to push a d raft that did not give a n ything mean ingful o n agriculture
but mandated negotiations o n three of the Singapore issues.

Undemocratic:
Speaking to the press after the collapse Ugandan delegate Yash
Tandon was furious, liThe ass u m ption made by the EU and the US was
that withi n a bout two or three days they can j ust carry out rapid
decisions for everybody. They wanted a text passed that was
profou ndly biased - The process of arriving at this draft has been
opa que and u ndemocratic - this text is unaccepta ble to us because it
condem n s m i l l ions of Africans to perpetua l u nderdevelopment and
a bject poverty".

"We are i ndeed d isappointed with this result. The Caribbea n

cou ntries came u nited to Cancun with a very positive agenda to get a
fair deal for our farmers. Nothing was offered to us. N ea rly 70
cou ntries said they were u nwi l l i ng to launch negotiations on the
Singa pore issues i .e . there was no explicit consensus. Despite this, the
draft we were discussing this morning 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 i nister George of Sai nt Lucia speaking on behalf of
the Cari b bean cou ntries.

A victory for the developing world :

Add ressing the press the Indian Commerce m inister Arun Jaitley
said, /I Success can not be j udged on the ability of getting or not
getting a declaration. The fact that the ministerial did n ot pass a
statement that did not e njoy a consensus is indeed a victory for the
developing world .
T h e d raft text clea rly did not reflect t h e aspirations o f the developing
and LDCs".

I nstead of the Ministerial decla ration that would have mandated a

work p rogra m me a nd set deadlines for completion of negotiations the
m i n isters issued a one-page statement a d m itting fai lure and their
resolve to go back to Geneva and try to i ron aut d ifferences.

A watershed :
S uccess at Cancun would have meant a mockery of both
developing cou ntries and the so-called Doha development agenda.
Canc u n's blockade does n ot mean the end of the road either for the

65
WTO or for the Doha round or for the domi n a nt neo-libera l paradigm
that governs i nternationa l trade today. But Cancu n will rem a i n a
watershed i n the history of the WTO; it marks a n ew dynamic to the
organ isation, standing as a usefu l rem i nder to the EU and the US that
the views of developing cou ntries ca n no longer be ignored .

6 . 6 Crisis of th e WTO
Syst e m : Ch ance for th e
U nderprivileged and Marginalized?
Brita Neuhold and Maria Karadenizli, WI DE-/IGTN E u rope

The 5th WTO Mi nisteria l Conference d ramatically collapsed in the

afternoon of Septembe r 1 4th a fter u n b ridgeable disag reement between
Northern and Southern countries o n the so-ca l led Si ngapore issues
a n d o n ag ricu lture. The coal itions of developi n g cou ntries which had
been built up d u ri ng the conference stood firm until the end - despite
heavy pressure exerted upon them by the rich nations, a bove a l l the
U nited States and the E u rapean U n io n . The developing cou ntries
pronounced a clear NO to the a uthoritarian procedu res of the WrO
modelled after a bsolute monarchies of former centuries a n d the
g lobalisation of an economic model which favo u rs exclusively the rich
nations a nd Transnational Corporations. In rare u n a n imity they
rejected the WTO D raft Ministerial Text which in the most provocative
m a n ner ignored the resolve of more than 70 countries not to e nter
into negotiations on the Singapore Issues a nd which also overlooked
the clear and detailed proposals of the "Group of 2 0 + ," a n a l l i a nce
under the leadership of Brazil, India, China and South Africa i n the
a rea of ag riculture and of the African, Ca ribbea n and Pacific (ACP)
g roup as well as of West African Least Developed Cou ntries and of
other groups on spedfic issues.

I ndig n ation a nd Resista nce

The Ministeria l text which, a l l i n a l l , was strong on corporate­
oriented economic g rowth a nd extremely weak on development and
environmental susta i na bility, infu riated Southern countries a nd sparked
statements of rare, a l m ost blunt directness: For exa m ple the I ndian
Deleg ate referred to the mid-term review of the Doha Development
Agenda as a "further development of the developed countries."

One of the most a rticulate comments ca me from the

representative of Antig u a and Barbuda who stated : "Were we to

66
accept this docu ment, we would deserve o u r people's condem nation
for we wou l d not only have gained no rel ief for them, but we wou ld
have condemned them to a l ife of perpetual u nderdevelopment. "

This remark set the stage for fierce opposition from Southern
cou ntries which were strongly supported by N GOs and other civil
society groups. I n particular, the proposed procedure on the Singapore
issues was seen as a provocation, especially by those Southern
delegates who had been involved i n the WTO working g roup o n N ew
Issues and coul d not recog n ise their positions i n the final d raft. Thus,
the confere nce climate was at boi ling poi nt when Green Room ta lks
for a pproxi mately 3 0 countries opened i n the morn i ng of Septem ber
1 4th, the focus s hifting immediately to the Singapore
issues item .

Resista nce by Kenya , which s poke o n behalf of the ACP countries,

a nd by I ndia was so fierce walkout by delegates from developing
countries seemed possi ble as the Kenyan delegate said that he would
n o longer take part in the session - that it soon became obvious that
no consensus could be reached . Deci d i ng that negotiations had
reached a dead lock which appeared i nsurmounta ble, Mexican Fo reign
M i nister Derbez d ecided to close the conference before talks on
a g riculture had even been opened.

New Power Structures a nd Memories

from the Past
Despite their fears that, after this brea kdown, the Doha
Development Agenda mig ht even be more d ifficult to rea lise, Southern
countries felt that they had achieved u nity and had confronted the
trade policies of powerfu l nations and questioned the u ndemocratic
WTO structure . This event, in fact, recalls memories of the 1 970s
when Third World cou ntries stood u p against the North in their
strugg l e for a j ust New I nternational E conomic Order a nd for the rig ht
to development. At that time, they fought for their demands at
U NCTAD conferences which then enjoyed the same public atte ntion
and media i nterest as WTO conferences today. Mr. Celso Amorim, the
Foreign Minister of Brazil l [21 a nd speaker of t h e G roup o f 2 0 + ,
expressed t h e fee l i ngs of m a n y when he said that "We wal k away from
the process stronger than we entered itl " His words of g ratitude to the
N GOs to which, according to him, the world should l isten, were
shared a nd suppo rted by many other Southern delegates. They felt that
the solidarity expressed by the NGO comm u n ity a nd by civil SOCiety in
genera l i n numerous declarations, briefing papers, press releases,
meetings, impressive demonstrations, a nd personal encouragement,

67
had been a strong shield against the cal lous, and sometimes even
contemptuous, behaviour by the representatives of rich countries.

The reaction of the European Union which, throughout the

negotiations, had not shown much understa nding of the demands a nd
needs of the developing world , a nd i nstead had addressed b lu nt
th reats to many of these countries- i n particular to the ACP Group­
was one of shock a nd surprise. It termed the outcome a " big mista ke"
made by developing countries. There was no analysis whatsoever of
the fact that it was partly because of EU persistence in pursuing the
i n itiation of negotiations on the S i ng a pore issues that the negotiations
had collapsed . Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, who cou ld hardly
conceal h is a nger, h eavily criticised the WTO as "medieva l" and its
pri nciple of consensus as "outdated ." But there were a lso E u ropea n
delegates, who held the undemocratic p rocedu res of the WTO
�' � .
I1

' �J
:��
k

responsible for the disaster. For instance, Belgi u m advocated for a

stronger role for U NCTAD i n international trade policies of the future .
T h i s is o n i ndi cation o f the divergence of views o f EU mem ber states i n
different a reas, which a re normally wel l h idden behind the collective
EC position.

Civi l Society on the move

I nternational NGOs and networks formed a strong alliance
a mong themselves, co-ord i nating their actions and issuing i n-depth
i nformation on their activities and on the topics a nd issues at stoke.
Prominently among them figured Our World is not for Sale (OWI N FS),
Third World Network (TWN), I nternational Gender and Trade Network
(lGTN), Women Environment Development O rganisation (WE DO),
Association on Women's Rig hts in Development (AWID) , Women's
Edge Coalition, Southern and Eastern Africa n Trade, I nformation and
Negotiation (SEATINI), South Asian Civil Society Network i n
International Trade (SACSN ITI), International 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 nternational Center for Cultura l D ivers ity
(lCCD), Green Peace, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) , Friends of the
Earth, Public Citizen, Action Aid, I nternational Center for H u ma n
Rights a n d Democratic Development (ICHRDD), a n d Center for
I nternational Environmental Low (CI E L) .

They warned against the negative effects o f the WTO a n d profit­

oriented g rowth and globalisotion 01'1 the world's poor, a bove all on
women and children, and a rg ued for the urgent need for a radical
reform of the WTO system based on the development of ecologically­
sustainable, gender-sensitive and human rig hts-oriented trade policies.
T hey expressed thei r concern at the destruction and exploitation of
nature a nd the environ ment by the WTO's trade-related i ntellectual
property policies a nd they cam paigned for the priority of h u man and
environmental rig hts over trade agreements a nd submitted a
Declaration on the Right to Food .

They organ ised workshops, briefings, working groups, and press

conferences, delivered statements and declarations and met with
delegations of WTO member states and followed the official
negotiations at the Convention Centre. They were joined by thousands
of people in impressive demonstrations, protesting against the
i ntransigence of the WTO Secretariat, the U.S. and the EU, and took
port i n ca ucuses all over the town .

69
 Unlike Seattle or other i nternation a l meetings on trade and
economics like those held i n Geneva, Cancun proved to be - with
some exceptions - a peaceful event with the police showing tolera nce
and u n derstanding for social resista nce.

Gender and women-focused N GOs were a l so very visible in

Cancu n . In a two-day i nternational forum entitled "Women on the
Road to Cancu n - Rights of Women in Trade Agreements," feminist
economists, gender and trade analysts, a nd women's advocates
ana lysed WTO policies from a gender and h u m a n rig hts perspective
a n d drew attention to the situation of women in the context of existing
and emerging WTO agreements in the a reas of agriculture, 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
published and widely distributed among civil society a nd government
officials. During the WTO conference itself strategy bUilding sessions
and excha ng es of information among women NGOs a nd networks
were successfully co-coordinated by the I nternational Gender a nd
Trade Network (IGTN). Variou s seminars on gender and economic
issues were org a n ised by I GTN, Heinrich B611 a n d Friedrich E bert
Stiftu ng, 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 a n d
open to a broader p u b l i c took place daily i n t h e centre o f t h e city.

Beyon d 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. O n the one hand,
fears that crucia l concerns of Southern countries a bout development,
ecological sustainabil ity, poverty e radication, and g ender j ustice wil l be
overridden a nd the few gains of the Doha Round will be lost, a re
j ustified . I ndeed, the reaction of EU delegates i ndicated such hard-line
policies.

Moreover the threats of U.S. officials and corporate representatives

to bypass the WTO a nd real ise their aspirations elsewhere m ust be
taken seriously and would res u lt in even greater losses for the world's
poor a nd for the internationa l e nvironment. On the other hand,
Southern cou ntries a n d the N GOs not only stated that "No deal is
better than a bad -dea ! ! " but h a i led the col la pse of a very sinister
process as proof of the new strength of the underprivileged . The
I nternational Gender and Trade Network expressed the genera l feeling
by stating that the "collapse i n Cancun represents a major political
shift i n the power dynam ics of the WTO with the developing countries
successful ly resisting power in the face of extreme pressure
a nd bullying."

70
 Negotiations wil l now be continued at a lower sca le i n Geneva,
where it is anticipated that an extraordinary policy session will ta ke
place in 2004 . Whether a nother m i nisterial will be convened in 2005
in Hong Kong is u ncertain. Much depends now on how Southern
cou ntries can m a ke their newly gained weig ht felt in these processes.
NGOs will continue to support them in these endeavours and will
struggle for thoroug h reforms of the WTO i n order to guarantee
transparency and democracy withi n the world trading system while
limiting its agenda to trade issues. Only under these cond itions ca n
human rights, social a nd gender justice, as well as sustainable
livelihoods for a l l be safeguarded.

For more information on W I D E , please visit: http://www BlJrosurorw'wide,

6 . 7 Cancun Fai lure: Africa Showed The Way

By Devinder Sharma*

Am idst a lot of d rama, the WTO Cancun Ministerial has failed. The
underdogs of economic development - the African block - h ave bailed
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 u p as a solid block to brighten the future
of bi l lions of toiling masses in the l1)ajority world .

The wal kout by the smaller African cou ntries, led by Kenya, and
followed by some Caribbean nations on the contentious Singapore
issues - the fou r new issues of investment, com petition policy,
government procurement and faci litation - which the United States,
E u ropean U nion a nd Japan were pushing in aggressively, has actually
failed the Cancun Ministerial. The Singapore issues were aimed at
simplifying cross-border traffic a nd increase competition and market
access for m ultinationals. The wal kout by the Africans, the second
time in the history of the WTO, clearly demonstrates that there is more
to the WTO than merely playing to media gallery.

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 failure of the
WTO Ministerial at SeaHle and now at Cancun is the direct outcome
of the African's frustration and their willingness to sta nd to the
mightiest. Kenya deserves the salute - jo jita wohi sika ndar. And so do
thousands of fa rmers, activists, and protestors who continued to raise

71
their voice ten kilometres away from the official ven u e of the
Ministerial tal ks. The supreme sacrifice by the 56- yea r-old Korean
farmer, Lee Kyu ng-hae, will rem a i n embedded i n the history of the
m u ltilateral trade regi m e as a tra gic symbol of the destructive fallout of
the so-cal led free trade process.

The G-23 (as the coa l ition of India, Brazil and China along with 2 0
other countries i s called) i n contrast, only roa red . Like the street dogs
that chase a ny speeding car, they continued to ba rk and then sit back
demurely. I ndia's commerce m i nister, Aru n Jaitley, who used the
unique opportunity to pose h imself as the champion of the farme rs
cause, too had g iven i n the final stages. Neither did India, nor the
other two giants - China a nd B razil - staged a wal k out i n protest. The
d raft circulated a day before had only cal led for a n e nd to export
subsidies on farm products of specia l interest to developing cou ntries,
b ut was for short of the elimination of a l l s u bsidies as demanded by
the G-23 g roup of developing nations.

Notwithstandi ng their tou g h postures outside a nd before the final

moments, the fai l u re of the G-23 to stand u p and be counted had in
rea l ity l ed towards a compromise formula l in king the phase out of
agricu ltural export su bsidies with the unbundling of the Singapore
issues, mea n i ng getting started on at least two of these i f not a l l the
fou r sectors. Except for expressing displeasure, which means nothi n g i n
the trade tal ks, the G-23 finally had wagged the tai l . I ndia, C h ina,
Malaysia a nd Ind onesia, besides the EU and some d eveloped
countries, were locked in i ntense g reen room d iscussions i n the final
stages to reach a compromise.

What h appened at Cancun is reminiscent of the a bsence of 'killer

i nstinct' that continues to plague the I ndian society. Whether it is
athl etics, hockey or cricket, many a times I ndia has done rem arkably
well in the i nternation a l tourna ments till it reaches the semi-finals and
the finals. How many times can one remember the ti mes when the
nation sat g lued to the television, l itera l ly on tenterhooks, watching the
nail-biting fin ish, only to see the I ndian team buckling u nder pressure.
I n politics, and more so i n trade d iplomacy, I nd ia continues to g ive a
repeat perfo rmance. At 200 1 Doha Ministerial too, the then
Commerce Minister Murasoli Mara n , foug ht a lone against the
inequalities being perpetuated by the g lobal trade regime. A phone
cal l from the Prime Minister at the nail-b iting stage, and he had to g ive
in to the manipulative des ig ns of the rich and developed cou ntries.

Once again, India faltered at its moment of crowning g lory. Let us

be very clear, Cancun Mi nisterial fai led because of investment i ssues
and not agriculture. The G-23 did not stage a walkout i n a nger

72
agai nst the g la ri ng i nequalities present i n the final m i nisteri a l draft. If it
were not for the African countries, Aru n Jaitely would have returned
home em pty handed . H is ma ndate, ostensibly with an eye on the
ensuing elections, was to cater to the votes of the domestic
electorate. I n that sense, he did remarkably wel l . But if one were to see
the a pproach of the BJ P-Ied Coa lition, it had a l l these years worked
just on an opposite format to what it tried to project at Cancu n .

T h i s does not however u ndermine the effort of t h e G-23 and the

G- 1 6 (on s pecial a nd differential treatment) cou ntries to speak out.
There is no denying that the G -23 countries did ma nage to create a
world opinion against agricultu re subsidies that the rich countries­
form i n g the O rganisation for Eco nomic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)- bestow o n its mini scule population of fa rmers.
In fact, these subsidies- total l ing US $ 3 1 1 bil l ion-are actua l ly
benefiting food a n d a g ricultural com panies i n the name of farmers.
These s u bsidies depress g lobal farm prices a nd enable the developed
cou ntries to d u m p cheaper foodg rains in the developing cou ntries,
thereby crippling the liveli hoods of millions of small a nd margi nal
farm e rs i n the developing world.

What is a lso sig nificant is that the debate Cancun Ministeria l

generated, for t h e first time acknowledged that a l l subsidies were
detrimental a n d trade distortin g . Earl ier, economists, policy makers,
and many western NGOs (in association with their developing cou ntry
partners) and the m i nisters had all a long fou nd 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 special safegu a rds, higher tariffs a nd
other non-ta riff measures. At the same time, it puts to shame the
relentless cam pa i g n by some organisations a nd individuals, i ncluding
a section of the Confederation of Indian I nd ustry (CII) , which was for
paving the path for an u n h i ndered entry of m ultinationals with a l l the
state protection for them.
, Devinder Sharma choirs the New Delhi.based Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security.

73
6.8 A Tu rni ng Poi nt for World Trade?
John Cavanagh (with Rob i n BroadL The Baltimore Sun, 1 8 September 2003

A generation from now, a n alysts may look back at the World Trade
Organization summit i n Mexico as a turning point in the i ncreasingly
contentious g lobal ization debate.

Why? Because for the first time i n decades of g loba lization

n egotiations, democracy trum ped na rrow el ite inte rests.

India, Brazi l, C h i na and nea rly two dozen other poor nations,
representi ng more than half of the globe's population, negotiated as a
b loc. With backing from a wide a rray of citizen g rou ps, they rejected the
m eeti ng's fin a l text, wh ich, as usual, was crafted to address the corporate
WORLD �naGANIZATION i nterests of richer nations. I n short, the many dera iled a trade agenda for
..,..p..\<tO,E\<.
the few.

A n u m ber of these poor countries, which came to be known as the

Group of 2 1 , were responding to strong ca m paigns from citizen g roups
in their countries for a d ra matic shift i n the g lobalization agenda . The two
of us spent the summer crisscrossi n g one of these nations, the P h i l ippines,
as small -sca le farmers, workers a nd a nti- poverty activists pressed their
government to stand up for their i nterests at the WTO s u m m it.

Their m essage to the P h i l i ppine government was simple, a nd it was

a imed at the heart of the WTO agenda :

Don't let Ca rg i l l a n d other g ia nt a g ri business firms from rich nations

use thei r government's lavish farm subsidies to d u m p their corn , rice and
wheat on our m arkets at low prices that d isplace m i l l ions of peasant
fa rme rs.

I n the era of Enron and WoridCom, don't g ive in to U.S. government

a n d corporate demands that vita l public services such as health care,
education and water be offered for sale to those same g lobal firms.

Don't agree to new negotiations that wil l fu rther handcuff

governments' a bi l ity to choose to steer ince ntives away from foreign firms
towa rd smaller, loca lly based domestic firms. We met with these Filipino
a ctivists 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 man ned by thousa nds of Mexica n pol ice
prevented most of the protesters from getting with i n miles of their
government' s negotiators, who were holed u p in some o� \he world's
most l uxurious hotels to discuss what WTO negotiators brazenly cal led a
"development agenda ."
 Deeply frustrated by the meta l barricades and the unfai r rules they
protected, a South Korean farmer, Lee Kyung Hae, p l u nged a knife i nto
his chest on the meetings' opening day.

Mr. Lee took h i s life to dramatize, in his own words, that " m u ltinational
corporations and a sma l l n u m be r of big WTO membe rs officials a re
leading a n undesira ble g lobalization [that is] i nh u m a ne, environ menta l ly
d istorting, fa rmer-kil li ng and u ndemocratic."

His suicide note l a mented the d u m ping of subsidized food in poorer

countries such as South Korea by g lobal corporations based in wea lthier
countries. He asked for a g lobal trade system that would a llow poor
countries to offer adequate protection to their farmers.

The flashpoint of the WTO meeting was agricultu re, but the
democratic revolt was a bout fa r more. The developing co untries'
negotiators in the suites a n d protesters in the streets were rejecting the
"one-size-fits-all" development model of the WTO that is a rel ic of the
bygone Reagan era . Financier George Soros characterizes that model as
"market fundamenta lism . "

B y derai l i ng the fai led g lobalization agenda of the WTO, these poor
cou ntries and an i ncreasingly restless g lobal public a re not rejecting the
necessity of g loba l rules on trade a nd i nvestment. To the co ntra ry,
proposals a bound for replaci ng the obsolete WTO approach with faire r
ru les a nd institutions.

For exa mple, citizen leaders u nder the auspices of the I nternational
Foru m on Globalization have p roposed rules that would a l low
govern ments to put leg itimate checks a nd balances on trade and
i nvestment to meet national goals - so Mexico could protect its corn
farmers and South Korea a n d Japan could protect their rice farmers as
vital to their culture . Such new rules would shift the priority from
i ncreasing trade a nd investment at a l l costs to creating a framework that
steers these economic flows to build healthy com m u n ities, dignified work
a n d a clean environment.

Now the real debate begins.

75
6.9 The Mea ni ng of Ca ncu n
S.p. Shukla

S P Shukla i s the conveno r o f the Cancun did n ot exist on the map of Mexico only three decades
I n dian People's C a mpaign a g a inst
ago. It was constructed l itera lly out of nothing on a beach on the
the WTO and was former I n d ian
south-eastern tip of Mexico for the indulgence of the rich America n
a m b a s s a d o r to the GATT
tou rists. But it is a name not unfa mi l i a r to those who have been
keeping track of the long and chequered history of the North -South
d ia logue. Cancun was in the news o nce before. And it was bad news
for the South . It was at Cancu n in 1 98 1 that Ronald Reagan finally
b u ried the North -South d ialog ue of
the 1 970s.

What does the recent n ews from Cancu n portend for the South ?
For I ndia? Let us first get the facts clea r. The WTO m i n i sterial meeting
at Cancun was a mid-term meeting of the Doha Round lau nched in
N ovember,200 1 .The break-down of the Cancun meetin g does not
signify the b reak-down of the Doha round. I n the past too, m id-term
m i niste rial meetings have foundered, ego The Montreal m i nisterial
meeting i n Decembe r 1 988 which was the mid-term ministerial of the
U ruguay Rou nd laun ched in September 1 986. It bro ke down as there
was no agreement on Ag ricultu re, TRI PS, Textiles and Safeguards. The
tussle o n Agriculture was then mainly between EEC and the Cairns
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 obtai 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 bilateral
pressures, mainly from USA; withd rew its opposition; and agreed, i n
April 1 989, to b ri n g i ng i n the s ubstantive aspects o f i nte llectua l
property rights withi n the scope o f the negotiations. That sig naled not
only the paradigm change for the GATT system but a lso the end of the
solidarity of the South strenuously built over the years under the
leadership of I ndia and Brazil. The seed of the all-em bracing and
coercive WTO system that emerged i n 1 995 was sown i n April 1 989,
i ronical ly, soon after, a nd in spite of I the successful ma noeuvre at the
Montreal meeting to win space for the susta i ned fig ht to resist such a n
outcome !

The "Statement" adopted by the m i nisters i n the wrap- u p session

of the Cancun meeting is 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 lls for "more work . . . to be done in some key a reas to
enable us to proceed toward the conclusion of the negotiations."

76
Having failed themselves to resolve the deadlock, the Ministers have
now instructed their subordinate officia ls and the Director - Genera l of
WTO to continue worki ng on the outstanding issues ! A specific date
i.e. 1 5th December 2003 has been indicated by which a meeting of
the Genera l Council of WTO has to be convened at the officia l leve l .
T h e Statement adds: /I We will bri ng with us into this new phase a l l the
val ua ble work that has been done at this Conference. In those a reas
where we have reached a high level of convergence on texts, we
u ndertake to maintain th is convergence while worki ng for a n
accepta ble overa l l outcome. Notwithstanding this setback, we reaffirm
a l l o u r Doha Declaration s a n d Decisions and recommit ourselves to
working to implement them ful ly a n d faithful ly." 2

It is a l l very wel l to sou nd positive in the face of a clear deadlock.

But where does it leave the process of negotiations? The pal pable and
repeatedly stated differences leave unbridgeable gaps in the crucia l
areas of Agricultu re I the Singa pore Issues a n d Non -Ag ricultu re
Ma rket Access . Where then is " a high degree of convergence of
texts" ? Is it to be presumed that there was nea r-agreement, behind the
scenes ,on issues like Services, S pecial and Differential Treatment and
I mplementatio n ? And what were the contents of such agreement? This
becomes important because the stated positions spoke of large
differences on these issues too.

There is a feeling of some relief that the deadlock at Cancu n has

kept the Singapore issues at bay , confining them to the clarification
process which com me nced at Doha two years ago. But one m ust not
forget that the Doha Decla ration clearly "recognizes the case for a
multi lateral framework" for a l l the new issues a nd the last two years
have witnessed deliberations on the new issues which have verged on
negotiations. Moreover, the strong opposition put forward by the
African, Caribbean and Pacific countries , the least developed
cou ntries and some others I to n egotiations proper being launch ed 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 n egotiations
on two of the Singapore Issues viz; "Government Procurement " a nd :
"Trade Facilitation" while asking for conti nuation of the cla rificatory
process on the remain ing issues of "I nvestment" and " Trade
facilitation" . The fact of the matter is that the Doha legacy of a llowing
the bridgehead for fu rther attack by the developed countries and their
multinationals on o u r a utonomy of policy-making is very m uch a l ive
and the deadlock in Cancun by itself is not enough to avert that
onsla u g ht.

77
 The other areo of deep d ivisions at Ca ncun was the issue of
Agricu lture . Not too long ago, the advocates and a pologists of WTO
(and the Agreement on Agriculture which was its i nteg ra l part) had
created i llusions a bout enormous prospects for agricu ltura l exports.
The actu a l operation of the Ag reement on Ag riculture, combined with
the impact of the so- cal 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 ittle to gain and m uch to lose, i n the WTO
regime. The unprecedented distress which our agriculture is
experiencing is not a d m itted by our Government. But the swe l l i ng
discontent i n the rural h i nterland on this account has n ot escaped at
least some sections in the ru ling establ ishment. That explains the
Government sta nce of strong criticism' of the domestic su pport and
export subsidy reg imes of EU and U SA. And the consequent role the
Indian Delegation has p layed in contributi ng to the e mergence a n d
sol ida rity o f G-2 1 i n t h e Ca ncun context. B u t here too, the
Govern ment is u nder the illusion that emphasis on red uction i n
domestic support and subsidies of E U and USA may provide them
enough room to contin u e with adequate level of ta riffs to protect the
i nterests of the Indian peasantry. The latest d raft on the ta ble at
Cancun presented by the C h ai rman of the meeti ng not only was soft
o n both E U a n U SA i n regard to their regi mes of support and
subsidies but a lso left no doubt whatsoever that the markets of
populous countries l i ke India a nd C h i na were the m a i n focus of the
ma rket- access area of negotiations. The proposals contai ned
provisions to reduce tariffs in developing countries substantia lly and at
a faster rate. Not only that. They conta i ned a provision to bind a
designated n u m ber 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 i m i ng and asserting the unqualified right to i m pose
quantitative restrictio ns on agriculture i mports can save o u r
agriculture and t h e l iveli hood o f t h e seventy percent o f our peoples.
Government of I ndia's stand is long on rhetoric about what EU and
USA m ust do a bout the support and subsid ies they give to thei r
agricultu re . B u t o u r Government i s total ly silent o n t h e vita l issue of
the q uantitative restrictions, a right that it has to cla i m a nd exercise i n
the i nterest of our peasa ntry a n d people.

Similarly, Government has not op posed the formulations in the

latest d raft declaration at Cancun o n Services where the aim of the
negotiations was soug ht to be red uced simply to /I progressively h ig her
levels of l i bera lisation" of services sectors while the Genera l
Agreement on Trade i n Services itself unambigously a n d explicitly
recogn ises the development d imension . It has not a lso expressed itself

"
I
. ,
i, 78
.i
agai nst the su pply of services like Health, Ed ucation, Water Supply etc
wh ich constitute basic h uman rights, being com modified i n the name
of libe ra lisation.

The danger is that trade majors will now resort to the bilateral
processes to complete the unfinished tasks of Cancun . I mportant
members of G-2 1 as wel l as the ACP and other g roupings will be
subjected to pressu res a nd blandishments. As we have seen, there a re
ope n i ngs ava i lable and signals g iven to make such process possible.
And it is here that the solidarity of the South will be tested.

That the break-down of Cancun meeting has averted the

i m mediate d isaster i n the a reas of a g ri cu lture and the Singapore 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
gai ned at Cancun is not a l lowed to be frittered away in the next three
months or so, when the bilateral a rm-twisting will be ram pa nt. In other
words, no repeat of "Geneva S u rrender of April 1 989 should be
1/

a llowed.

What a re the prospects of averti ng this danger? I n some respects

the objective s ituation is perha ps more favourable now tha n i n the
spring of 1 989. April 1 989 signified the end of the sol ida rity of the
South. Cancun , o n the contrary, has witnessed re-emergence of the
solidarity of the South, after a long i nterva l of good thirteen yea rs. All
those who were wishing away the existence of South , ( i ncluding a
section of i ntel lectuals and .some governments i n the South , including
o u r own l ) and jumping for opportunist, issue- based coal itions cutting
across the real ity of the North -South d ivide, h ave received a rude
s hock. The leaders of the North have felt the sting acutely. Which
explains the reported outb u rsts of Pasca l La my, EU Trade
Commissioner and Robert Zoellick, USTR . La my called the processes
in Cancun through which the majority of the developing cou ntries
found some voice as " medieva l " . liThe USTR Robert Zoel lick, at his
press conference was a rroga nt, and said : " If cou ntries want to behave
l i ke i n the U N and only make demands i nstead of negotiations making
i nflam matory rhetoric then trade negotiations a re not possible./I He
virtually cursed the G 2 1 . . "3
.

For the emerging solidarity to survive and become stronger, it is

obvious that countries l i ke I nd ia, Brazil , China a n d South Africa have
to band together i n evolving common strategies and not attempt to cut
short-sighted , bilateral deals. For us in I ndia, it is i mportant to ensure
through popular pressu re that the opportunity offered by the

79
i nterregn u m is utilized by Government to further strengthen the stand
on agricu lture a nd services as indicated earlier. I n the spring of 1 989,
the issue that the American s were pushing for was i ntellectua l property
rights, a n esoteric a rea which then had l ittle potential for generating
mass e nthusiasm for resista nce. Now i n the aftermath of Ca n cur1, it is
the opening of our markets for i m ports of agricultural p roducts that is
being sought by EU and U SA and this affects the very l ivel ihood of the
majority of our people. Already there is resista nce d eveloping to the
govern ment pol icies i n this area . And no government ca n afford to
ignore it except at its own peri l . It is eq ually i mportant that the
Government is persuaded to g ive u p the a m bi g u ity in its stan d on a l l
the fou r S i n gapore issues. If that happens, the Govern ment wil l have
the backing of a truly national consensus supporting it i n WTO. This
will a lso augur wel l for the emerg i n g solidarity 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

80