Focus on inequities in WTO negotiations

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, NOV. 17. The humanitarian concerns revolving around the new global trade negotiations were discussed at a national seminar on the impact of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the Third World, organised here today as part of the 87th birthday celebrations of Mr. V. R. Krishna Iyer, former Supreme Court judge.

Dr. Vandana Shiva, social and environmental activist, Ms. Jayathi Ghosh, columnist, and Mr. Rajeev Dhawan, senior Supreme Court lawyer, spoke about the different issues involved in the trade negotiations. Dr. T. M. Thomas Isaac, economist, was the moderator.

The WTO, by concentrating power in one organisation, is following an undemocratic process, according to Dr. Vandana Shiva. The global executive is judging intellectual property rights, removal of quantitative restrictions and other issues without the ratification from member countries where democratic functioning prevails. This is an anomaly of the highest order, she argued.

It is Parliament which has to give direction in matters related to global trade, but the Indian representative who attended the Doha ministerial meeting of WTO had no prior sanction from Parliament. The Indian Minister, who attended the meeting, had termed the part played by the country as successful. This is in direct contrast with the earlier view and amounts to betrayal of democracy.

The WTO system has not been favourable to the food delivery system in the Third World while the rich countries have benefited. The inequalities in currency conversion is a factor affecting international trade, she said.

The issues pertaining to the use of genetically modified seeds were not raised at the Doha meet. Genetic pollution is a serious threat to agriculture. The WTO regime should in no way marginalise peasants in any part of the world. The non- transparency of WTO negotiations should evoke wide protest from the Third World countries, she said.

The WTO system had raised high hopes initially on the prospect of investment flow to the Third World but trends are giving opposite indications, Ms. Jayati Ghosh said. Only the services sector has registered an increase, that too in sectors such as entertainment, which are controlled by rich countries. Citing instances from Brazil, she said repatriation from the privatised sectors has increased substantially. Only multinationals have gained from this phenomenon. Workers have been losing jobs everywhere after liberalisation set in.

She contradicted the popular notion that privatisation is the answer to economic ills. The power sector in California is in chaos after it was privatised. The privatised railway sector in the United Kingdom was recently taken over by the Government after it suffered huge losses.

There should be extensive protest against the negative impact of globalisation. Protecting the basic rights of the citizens is the duty of the Governments and negotiations under any garb should not play mischief, she said.

Conducting global trade in the absence of global equity would be a meaningless exercise, Mr. Rajeev Dhawan said. GATT and the WTO have their own mechanism of implementation. Self-fulfilling treaties are undemocratic, he said. The appeal mechanism has not been yielding the desired results, he pointed out. The action against dumping is a case in point.

Global social justice should be ensured while negotiating trade. The Government should take the people into confidence while making decisions on the global trade front, Mr. Dhawan said. A wider debate on the issues affecting common people as a result of the WTO negotiations should be conducted. A green paper should be issued to educate the people on the pros and cons of the WTO regime, he said.

The United Sates is putting the developing countries into submission by creating a new global trade regime, Mr. Thomas Isaac said. People should fight globalisation at the local level, he said.

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