Message-ID: <37B09F45.476BD95D@direct.ca> Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 14:53:09 -0700 From: Cyril Belshaw <mailto:cbelshaw@DIRECT.CA> Subject: Re: (wto) September 15: Day of Action against the WTO! To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Why the heck should we do that? And who give it the title International Day? Sure there are things wrong with the WTO but we also need it badly. Fix what is wrong, don't set out to destroy. That's isolationism.Cyril Belshaw
Kerry Miller wrote:
> Date sent: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 15:38:02 -0500 (CDT)
> From: "Margrete Strand-Rangnes" <mailto:mstrand@citizen.org>
> Subject: (wto) September 15: Day of Action against the WTO!
>
> Mark your calendar for the international Day of Action against the World
> Trade Organization (WTO), September 15, 1999. There will be simultaneous
> press conferences around the world, call-in campaigns to members of
> Parliaments/Congress, protests, hearings and teach-ins etc., to launch the
> international campaign against a "New Round" in Seattle. We will also
> release the international sign-on letter (included in this e-mail). The
> letter now has 800 organizations signed on to it - we are shooting for 1000
> by September the 15th, and we need your help to circulate it amongst your
> networks and contacts. The letter has been translated into Spanish and
> French, and you can find these versions at
> http://www.onelist.com/shareddir/StopWTORound/). If your organization would
> like to sign the letter, send an e-mail to Ronnie Hall at Friends of the
> Earth, UK (mailto:ronnieh@foe.co.uk).
>
> Start planning this day now, and stay tuned for more information about
> events being organized near you. As we get closer to the day, we will
> circulate e-mails with information about the events that are being organized
> in different countries and cities. Please e-mail us your plans so that we
> can compile a masterlist of activities. We will also circulate a list of
> national contacts for the day.
>
> Margrete Strand
> Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, US
>
> September 15, 1999
> International Day of Action against the World Trade Organization (WTO)
> NO NEW ROUND - TURN AROUND!
>
> Join tens of thousands of activists around the world in a day of action to
> oppose expansion of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO is a
> powerful, undemocratic global commerce agency which imposes a regime of
> corporate managed trade. In its five years record, the WTO has consistently
> been used to attack national and local social and environmental safeguards.
> For example, the U.S. has already changed the Clean Air Act rules to comply
> with WTO demands.
>
> Top negotiators from WTO's 135 member countries are meeting in Seattle, WA
> in late November 1999 to set the WTO's future agenda. Some of the most eager
> proponents of the WTO are calling for an ambitious new "Millennium Round" of
> negotiations including issues like a global free logging agreement and an
> MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment) in the WTO. On the agenda is also
> a further de-regulation of agriculture and services (including health
> services and education).
>
> Enough is enough! In its five years of existence, the WTO has proved to be a
> disaster for democracy, workers and the environment. Rather than expand this
> flawed organization we need a turn-around!
>
> On September 15, take action and let people know that you oppose any
> attempts to broaden the scope and power of the WTO. Here's what you can do:
>
> * Call your Member of Congress and both Senators. Urge them to oppose the
> launch of a new round of WTO negotiations in Seattle that would expand the
> power of the WTO and to instead pressure the Clinton Administration to
> endorse an assessment of WTO's record to date so we can identify ways to
> change international trade and investment rules to promote fair trade and
> sustainable development. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or
> toll-free at 1-888- 449-3511.
>
> * Call the U.S. negotiators and tell them why they must oppose the
> "Millennium Round" proposal and why we must conduct an assessment of the
> WTO's performance to date. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is the
> agency in charge of the negotiations. Call USTR's Charlene Barshefsky at
> 202-395-6890 (fax: 202-395-4549). You should also call the White House's
> John Podesta at 202-456-1414, as well as vice-President Al Gore at
> 202-456-1111.
>
> Get all your friends and neighbors to call as well!
>
> Come to Seattle for the Ministerial (Nov. 29 through Dec. 3)! Activists from
> all around the world will gather in Seattle for teach-ins, street
> festivities, debates, cultural activities, protests and more! Check out
> http://www.seattlewto.net/ for more information on accommodation/schedule
> of events/other arrangements or call 1-877-STOP-WTO (786-7986).
>
> STATEMENT FROM MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY OPPOSING A MILLENNIUM
> ROUND OR A NEW ROUND OF COMPREHENSIVE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
>
> Last updated: 4 August 1999
> Signed by that date by
> 798 organisations from over 75 countries
>
> In November 1999, the governments of the world will meet in
> Seattle for the World Trade Organisation's Third Ministerial
> Conference. We, the undersigned members of international civil
> society, oppose any effort to expand the powers of the World Trade
> Organisation (WTO) through a new comprehensive round of trade
> liberalisation. Instead, governments should review and rectify the
> deficiencies of the system and the WTO regime itself.
>
> The Uruguay Round Agreements and the establishment of the
> WTO were proclaimed as a means of enhancing the creation of
> global wealth and prosperity and promoting the well-being of all
> people in all member states. In reality however, in the past five
> years the WTO has contributed to the concentration of wealth in
> the hands of the rich few; increasing poverty for the majority of the
> world's population; and unsustainable patterns of production and
> consumption.
>
> The Uruguay Round Agreements have functioned principally to
> prise open markets for the benefit of transnational corporations at
> the expense of national economies; workers, farmers and other
> people; and the environment. In addition, the WTO system, rules
> and procedures are undemocratic, untransparent and non-
> accountable and have operated to marginalise the majority of the
> world's people.
>
> All this has taken place in the context of increasing global
> economic instability, the collapse of national economies,
> increasing inequity both between and within nations and increasing
> environmental and social degradation, as a result of the
> acceleration of the process of globalisation.
>
> The governments which dominate the WTO and the transnational
> corporations which have benefited from the WTO system have
> refused to recognise and address these problems. Instead, they
> are pushing for further liberalisation through the introduction of new
> issues for adoption in the WTO. This will lead to the exacerbation
> of the crisis associated with the process of globalisation and the
> WTO.
>
> We oppose any further liberalisation negotiations, especially those
> which will bring new areas under the WTO regime, such as
> investment, competition policy and government procurement. We
> commit ourselves to campaign to reject any such proposals. We
> also oppose the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
> Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
>
> We call for a moratorium on any new issues or further negotiations
> that expand the scope and power of the WTO.
>
> During this moratorium there should be a comprehensive and in-
> depth review and assessment of the existing agreements. Effective
> steps should then be taken to change the agreements. Such a
> review should address the WTO's impact on marginalised
> communities, development, democracy, environment, health,
> human rights, labour rights and the rights of women and children.
> The review must be conducted with civil society's full participation.
>
> The failure of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
> Development's Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)
> demonstrates broad public opposition to the deregulation of the
> global economy, the increasing dominance of transnational
> corporations and escalating resource use and environmental
> degradation.
>
> A review of the system will provide an opportunity for society to
> change course and develop an alternative, humane and sustainable
> international system of trade and investment relations.
>
> [List of signers deleted]
>
> ===