>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Originator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Robert Weissman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Multiple recipients of list CORP-FOCUS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: 10 Reasons to Dismantle the WTO >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Comment: Please see http://lists.essential.org for help >Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:14:04 -0500 (EST) > >10 Reasons to Dismantle the WTO >By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > >Add a new constituency to the long list of World Trade Organization (WTO) >critics which already includes consumers, labor, environmentalists, human >rights activists, fair trade groups, AIDS activists, animal protection >organizations, those concerned with Third World development, religious >communities, women's organizations. The latest set of critics includes WTO >backers and even the WTO itself. > >As the WTO faces crystallized global opposition -- to be manifested in >massive street demonstrations and colorful protests in Seattle, where the >WTO will hold its Third Ministerial meeting from November 30 to December 3 >-- the global trade agency and its strongest proponents veer between a >shrill defensiveness and the much more effective strategy of admitting >shortcomings and trumpeting the need for reform. > >WTO critics now face a perilous moment. They must not be distracted by >illusory or cosmetic reform proposals, nor by even more substantive >proposals for changing the WTO -- should they ever emerge from the >institution or its powerful rich country members. Instead, they should >unite around an uncompromising demand to dismantle the WTO and its >corporate-created rules. > >Here are 10 reasons why: > >1. The WTO prioritizes trade and commercial considerations over all other >values. WTO rules generally require domestic laws, rules and regulations >designed to further worker, consumer, environmental, health, safety, human >rights, animal protection or other non-commercial interests to be >undertaken in the "least trade restrictive" fashion possible -- almost >never is trade subordinated to these noncommercial concerns. > >2. The WTO undermines democracy. Its rules drastically shrink the choices >available to democratically controlled governments, with violations >potentially punished with harsh penalties. The WTO actually touts this >overriding of domestic decisions about how economies should be organized >and corporations controlled. "Under WTO rules, once a commitment has been >made to liberalize a sector of trade, it is difficult to reverse," the WTO >says in a paper on the benefits of the organization which is published on >its web site. "Quite often, governments use the WTO as a welcome external >constraint on their policies: 'we can't do this because it would violate >the WTO agreements.'" > >3. The WTO does not just regulate, it actively promotes, global trade. Its >rules are biased to facilitate global commerce at the expense of efforts >to promote local economic development and policies that move communities, >countries and regions in the direction of greater self-reliance. > >4. The WTO hurts the Third World. WTO rules force Third World countries to >open their markets to rich country multinationals, and abandon efforts to >protect infant domestic industries. In agriculture, the opening to foreign >imports, soon to be imposed on developing countries, will catalyze a >massive social dislocation of many millions of rural people. > >5. The WTO eviscerates the Precautionary Principle. WTO rules generally >block countries from acting in response to potential risk -- requiring a >probability before governments can move to resolve harms to human health >or the environment. > >6. The WTO squashes diversity. WTO rules establish international health, >environmental and other standards as a global ceiling through a process of >"harmonization;" countries or even states and cities can only exceed them >by overcoming high hurdles. > >7. The WTO operates in secrecy. Its tribunals rule on the "legality" of >nations' laws, but carry out their work behind closed doors. > >8. The WTO limits governments' ability to use their purchasing dollar for >human rights, environmental, worker rights and other non-commercial >purposes. In general, WTO rules state that governments can make purchases >based only on quality and cost considerations. > >9. The WTO disallows bans on imports of goods made with child labor. In >general, WTO rules do not allow countries to treat products differently >based on how they were produced -- irrespective of whether made with >brutalized child labor, with workers exposed to toxics or with no regard >for species protection. > >10. The WTO legitimizes life patents. WTO rules permit and in some cases >require patents or similar exclusive protections for life forms. > >Some of these problems, such as the WTO's penchant for secrecy, could >potentially be fixed, but the core problems -- prioritization of >commercial over other values, the constraints on democratic >decision-making and the bias against local economies -- cannot, for they >are inherent in the WTO itself. > >Because of these unfixable problems, the World Trade Organization should >be shut down, sooner rather than later. > >That doesn't mean interim steps shouldn't be taken. It does mean that >beneficial reforms will focus not on adding new areas of competence to the >WTO or enhancing its authority, even if the new areas appear desirable >(such as labor rights or competition). Instead, the reforms to pursue are >those that reduce or limit the WTO's power -- for example, by denying it >the authority to invalidate laws passed pursuant to international >environmental agreements, limiting application of WTO agricultural rules >in the Third World, or eliminating certain subject matters (such as >essential medicines or life forms) from coverage under the WTO's >intellectual property agreement. > >These measures are necessary and desirable in their own right, and they >would help generate momentum to close down the WTO. > > >Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime >Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based >Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The >Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Common Courage Press, >http://www.corporatepredators.org). > >(c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > >---------------------------------------- > >Focus on the Corporation is a weekly column written by Russell Mokhiber >and Robert Weissman. Please feel free to forward the column to friends or >repost the column on other lists. If you would like to post the column on >a web site or publish it in print format, we ask that you first contact us >([EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]). > >Focus on the Corporation is distributed to individuals on the listserve >[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to corp-focus, send an e-mail >message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following all in one line: > >subscribe corp-focus <your name> (no period). > >Focus on the Corporation columns are posted at ><http://lists.essential.org/corp-focus>. > >Postings on corp-focus are limited to the columns. 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