<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><div><div><div>On the WTO for the 10th Ministerial occurring this week in Nairobi, Kenya and recent civil society activity! Hope it is useful to you. </div></div></div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><div><br></div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><div><a href="http://www.alternet.org/world/major-summit-could-put-worlds-poorest-inhabitants-corporate-chopping-block" style="font-size: 15px;">http://www.alternet.org/world/major-summit-could-put-worlds-poorest-inhabitants-corporate-chopping-block</a></div><div><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br></span></div><div><b style="font-size: 18px;">Major Summit Could Put World's Poorest Inhabitants on Corporate Chopping Block</b></div><div><span style="font-size: 15px;"><b>The ministerial meetings for the WTO must deliver on food security and development for the world's poor.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 15px;">By Deborah James/AlterNet</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 15px;">December 13, 2015</span></div><div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15px;"><font face="Calibri"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-GB">Last week, </span>453 civil society groups including trade unions, farmers,
environmentalists, public interest groups and development advocates from over
150 countries wrote an urgent letter to members of the WTO to “express extreme
alarm about the current situation of the negotiations in the WTO.” This is the
largest number of endorsers on a letter about the WTO in the last decade and is
a signal of the dire situation. Coordinated by the global Our World Is Not for
Sale (OWINFS) network, the letter is available in <a href="http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/en/signon/global-civil-society-letter-nairobi-ministerial-world-trade-organization-wto">English</a>, <a href="http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/es/signon/carta-sociedad-civil-acerca-conferencia-ministerial-organizaci-n-mundial-del-comercio-omc-rea">Spanish</a> and <a href="http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/fr/node/add/signon?translation=24666&language=fr">French</a>.<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">The
10<sup>th</sup> Ministerial meeting of the WTO, taking place in Nairobi, Kenya
from December 15-18, is occurring against a backdrop of accelerated “mega-regional”
comprehensive pro-corporate “trade” deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). At the
same time, mostly rich countries are also expanding the corporate
liberalization model in certain sectors like services (through the proposed Trade
in Services Agreement or TiSA), and on goods (through the proposed Information
Technology Agreement, or ITA and the Environmental Goods Agreement or EGA). <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">The
WTO meeting is also occurring immediately after a global deal on climate was
struck in Paris, which many call a step in the right direction but also
acknowledge that it is not nearly ambitious enough to resolve the global
climate crisis. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">A
bit of background: when the Doha Round was launched in 2001, developing
countries only agreed to the new round on the basis that it would address the
problems of the bad deal that created the existing WTO. Thus the negotiation
mandate focused on development, including specific changes proposed to the WTO
in what’s called the “Special and Differential Treatment (SDT)” agenda. Most of
these proposed changes would give developing countries more flexibility from
WTO rules, thus reducing the intrusion of the WTO into their domestic sphere,
to enable them to enact development policies in line with their national
interests. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">Major
emphasis was also placed on agriculture, on reducing the <a href="http://www.twn.my/title2/wto.info/2015/ti151204.htm">subsidies and tariffs used by rich countries</a>, which harm developing country farm production and
food security. Poor countries have been fighting to be able to protect their
farmers’ livelihoods, food security and rural development from surges in
imports of subsidized products, through what’s called the Special Safeguard
Mechanism (<a href="http://www.twn.my/title2/wto.info/2015/ti151120.htm">SSM</a>). This
is because rich countries have still refused to limit either their domestic
(point of production) subsidies or the advantages they provide to
agribusinesses at the point of export. Developing countries are also fighting
to be permitted by WTO rules to invest in their own agricultural production and
strengthen <a href="http://www.twn.my/title2/wto.info/2015/ti151109.htm">domestic food security programs</a> that are currently permitted <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/JPi4o78XnwziAnsbzTHgrJ/Destruction-of-US-credibility-at-WTO.html">for rich but not developing countries</a>, not even for Least Developed Countries (LDCs)!<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">Unfortunately,
it seems that developed countries never intended to deliver on those development
and agricultural reform promises, and have spent the last 14 years of the Doha
Round sidelining development issues and instead working to expand the WTO’s neoliberal
dictates on services, goods, agriculture and other issues. At the same time,
they have taken their corporate wish lists to other forums, concluding the TPP
and negotiating the TTIP, TiSA, ITA and EGA mentioned above. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">These
developments have drastically reduced the leverage developing countries have in
the WTO to achieve their developmental agendas. In effect, because rich
countries have never agreed to any proposals by developing countries or LDCs,
and are now focused on attaining their interests elsewhere, they are now
attempting to formally abandon any “development” mandate in the WTO. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">This
effort, which is the main fight in Nairobi, is even more pernicious because
their goal is two-fold: abandon the development mandate, and then open up space
to introduce all the new corporate issues they have been negotiating in the
TPP, TTIP and other deals into the WTO, including investment, government
procurement, disciplining state owned enterprises, and others. Many of these issues
are not permitted to be on the agenda in the WTO while Doha is still being
negotiated. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">After
20 years of the WTO’s corporate model, and the massive displacement of farmers,
increased inequality, financial crises and massive climate crises, civil
society is clear: the current WTO cannot be allowed to continue in terms of
business as usual. There are immediate changes that must be made to the worst
aspects of the current WTO. These should be the urgent priority, as a first
step towards the transformation of the global trade system towards one that
works for sustainable development, jobs, and food sovereignty. Simultaneously,
the WTO must not be allowed to expand the scope and breadth of its
privatization and deregulation agenda through “new issues.” <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">In
their letter, civil society highlighted that success<b> </b>in Nairobi must mean “[f]ulfilling the development mandate by
strengthening SDT for all developing countries, removing WTO obstacles to food
security, and operationalizing benefits for the [LDCs].” They specified that
the WTO Ministerial will be a failure from a development perspective, unless
the agriculture rules are changed in four ways. Poor countries must be allowed
to invest in food security through public stockholding programs; rich
countries’ domestic supports and export competition policies that hurt poor
country markets must be reined in; poor countries must be allowed to protect
their farmers from subsidized imports; and <a href="http://www.twn.my/title2/wto.info/2015/ti151201.htm">cotton subsidies</a> must be slashed, along with other concerns of the Least Developed
Countries. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">They
also highlighted what agenda items must not be incorporated, noting that
“introducing a corporate wish list of ‘new issues’ must be off the table at
Nairobi,” and that the “WTO Ministerial will be a failure from a development
perspective if ‘new issues’ – including under the sneaky rubric of ‘discussions
on global value chains (GVCs) or the digital economy’ – are agreed to in
Nairobi as part of the post-Ministerial agenda.” <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">They
concluded that: “[f]or the Ministerial to ‘work’ for food, jobs, and
sustainable development, the necessary outcome is clear: the transformation of
the gross inequities in the global agricultural system must begin, including:
removing WTO obstacles to public stockholding for food security; a concrete and
workable SSM; and disciplining domestic supports and export competition. Across
the WTO, development demands must be met, including the full scope of the G90
proposals for all developing countries, and the operationalizing of the LDC
package. The corporate and rich country government agenda of permanently
abandoning the development mandate must be forestalled, along with the
imposition of a set of already-rejected or ill-defined non-trade ‘new issues’.”
<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">The
letter echoes many concerns raised by civil society throughout the history of
the WTO, including a letter sent by <a href="http://ourworldisnotforsale.org/en/signon/letter-civil-society-regarding-future-agenda-wto-negotiations">345 organizations in July</a>, as well as the OWINFS <a href="http://notforsale.mayfirst.org/en/signon/wto-turnaround-2013-food-jobs-and-sustainable-development-first-statement">Turnaround Statement</a> that includes an extensive list of transformative policy changes, and
the original Shrink or Sink! manifesto on the Doha Round. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;">The
whole world watched as representatives of nearly every country on the global
negotiated a landmark climate deal in Paris last week. Experts have detailed
how governments won’t be able to implement many aspects of the deal, however,
if agreements like the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/dirty-deal.pdf">TPP</a>, <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/GC91Dec15Ackerman.pdf?utm_source=GDAE+Subscribers&utm_campaign=c991138ef4-AckermanTTIP_12_1_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_72d4918ff9-c991138ef4-49688253">TTIP</a> [PDF]
or <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-james/climate-deception-non-bin_b_8724014.html">TiSA</a> come
into force. Much the same could be said about the WTO. Developing country unity
and North-South peoples’ solidarity will be essential to a positive outcome at
the WTO. Let’s make sure that the United States, the EU, Japan, Australia and
others realize that the imperative of development and public interests must
come before corporate profit. A good deal should be struck in Nairobi. But if
not, then no deal is better than a bad deal. <o:p></o:p></font></p><div style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext .75pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" style="font-size: 15px;"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><font face="Calibri">Deborah James, <a href="mailto:djames@cepr.net">djames@cepr.net</a>,
facilitates the campaign on the WTO for the Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS)
network. OWINFS is a global network of NGOs and social movements working for a
sustainable, socially just, and democratic multilateral trading system. <a href="http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org">www.ourworldisnotforsale.org</a></font><font face="Calibri">.</font></span><font face="Calibri,sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></font></p><!--EndFragment--></div><div style="font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></div></div></div></span><link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/deborahjames/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file://localhost/Users/deborahjames/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_themedata.xml"><style>
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