Global Civil Society Demands

Removal of WTO Obstacles to Food Security and Sustainable Development

OWINFS

29/11/2013

Opinión

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Delegation of 80 Civil Society Experts from 31 Countries to Participate in Upcoming WTO Ministerial in Bali

A wide variety of civil society experts working together through the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network will travel to Bali for the 9^th Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to engage in lobbying and media work, and take action to ensure that their respective governments do not give in to a bad deal in the WTO.

Over 80 civil society experts – trade unionists, farmers, development advocates, and consumer activists – from 31 countries will travel to Bali for the 9^th Ministerial meeting of the WTO, working through the global OWINFS network, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and Public Services International (PSI). Civil society delegates are participating in OWINFS activities from: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, France, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Surinam, Switzerland, Tanzania, the United States, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.

After many failed Ministerial meetings and nearly twelve years of negotiations, the Doha Round of WTO expansion is at a crossroads. Developed countries, at the behest of their corporate interests, have pushed aside agreements to negotiate on key issues intended to correct the imbalances within the existing WTO, which formed the basis of the development mandate of Doha, such as fixing the huge asymmetries which allow rich countries to subsidize their agribusiness exports but put drastic limits on the subsidies developing countries can use to ensure food security. Even worse, developed countries re-packaged the same liberalization and market access demands of their corporate interests to try to secure an agreement on Trade Facilitation, which would place excessive implementation, regulatory, human resources, and technological burdens on developing countries – and for which developed countries have steadfastly refused to provide the required technical and financial assistance. And, they are pushing for an expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and a radical new Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). The Director General of the WTO announced yesterday that Trade Facilitation negotiations have failed in Geneva, but could still be taken up in Bali.

Instead, civil society organizations have been demanding that any agreement for the upcoming 9^thMinisterial at Bali must begin to rebalance existing inequities, such as an agreement on the G33 proposal for Food Security (not a temporary “Peace Clause”), and a strong package of policy changes to benefit the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). A binding agreement on Trade Facilitation would be a tremendous step in the wrong direction.

Please find below quotes from OWINFS members and allies, and plan to attend a civil society press conference at the WTO Ministerial in Bali on Tuesday, December 3^rd at 12:00 NOON in the NGO Center (specific room TBD) of the Bali Convention Center, where the Ministerial will be held.

- OWINFS is a global network of NGOs and social movements working for a sustainable, socially just, and democratic multilateral trading system. www.ourworldisnotforsale.org.

https://www.alainet.org/en/articulo/81284?language=en