[ pls note the event will begin at 1pm Sharp... ]
AID/WATCH Event: Book Launch
Behind the Scenes at the WTO: the Real World of International Trade
Negotiations
AID/WATCH in conjunction with ATTAC are launching the book to read on
the World trade Organization (WTO) Get the low down on the WTO . Find
out how the process works, what the WTO actually does and how you are
going to be affected.
When: 1pm, Saturday 6th September
Where: Glee Books, 49 Glebe Point Road Glebe
Speakers:
Humphrey McQueen (Historian)- the rise of the new trading empire
Reverend Ann Wannsborough (Uniting Care) - impacts on services
Dr Tim Anderson (Sydney University) - Impacts of market access and food
security
Senator Kerry Nettle (the Greens) - the process of the WTO
For more info contact Tim O'Connor 9557 8944 or for more info on the
book read on...
WTO EXPOSED!
Fatoumata Jawara and Aileen Kwa: Behind the Scenes at the WTO: the Real
World of International Trade Negotiations. Zed Books, London
This immensely important book on the politics of the WTO, which lifts
the lid on how the WTO really works, and what really happened before,
at, and after the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha in 2001, on
the basis of interviews with 33 Geneva-based delegates to the WTO and 10
Secretariat staff members.
It reveals the systematic subversion of an ostensibly democratic system
to ensure that the agreementsthat are reached are those the major powers
'primarily the US and the European Union' want, irrespective of the
views of interests of most developing countries, who form the great
majority of the membership.
The authors summarise:
Crucial meetings are held behind closed doors, excluding participants
with critical interests at stake, with no formal record of the
discussion. When delegates are, in principle, entitled to attend
meetings, they are not informed when or where they are to be held.
Meetings are held without translation into the languages of many
participants, to discuss documents which are only available in English,
and which have been issued only hours before, or even at the meeting
itself. Those most familiar with issues (Ambassadors) are sometimes
discouraged or prevented from speaking in discussions about them at
Ministerial meetings. 'Consultations' with Members on key decisions are
held one-to-one, in private, with no written record, and the
interpretation left to an individual who has a stake in the outcome.
Protestations that inconvenient views have been ignored in this process
fall on deaf ears. Chairs of committees and facilitators are selected by
a small clique, and often have an interest in the issues for which the
committee is responsible. The established principle of decision-making
by consensus is routinely overridden, and the views of decision-makers
are 'interpreted' rather than a formal vote being taken, even in such
key decisions as the selection of Mike Moore as DG and the chairmanship
of the Trade Negotiations Committee. Rules are ignored when they are
inconvenient, and a blind eye is turned to blackmail and inducements.
The list is endless.
Any country whose political system operated as the WTO did before,
during and after the Doha Ministerial where procedures were interpreted
with such flexibility, rules were routinely ignored, and people or
interested groups routinely used bribery and blackmail to achieve their
political ends would not only be rightly condemned by the international
community as undemocratic and corrupt, it would also face a real and
constant threat of revolution. No developed country would contemplate
running its government in this way; and yet they are happy both to
exploit the system and to defend it against pressure for democratic
reform at the international level.
This book is a 'must-read', not only for anyone engaged in campaigning
and advocacy on the WTO and international trade issues, but also for
anyone who wants to know how our world is really run, whats going on
behind the headlines, and how international structures are being abused
to impose globalisation on an unwilling world.
CONTENTS:
Chapter 1: The Devil You Know - an Introduction to the WTO
Chapter 2: The Battleground - the Key Issues in Doha)
Chapter 3: Setting the Stage - the Pre-Doha Mini-Ministerial Meetings
Chapter 4: A Controlled Bedlam - the Doha Ministerial
Chapter 5: Look Back in Anger - Post-Doha Reflections
Chapter 6: The Gentle Art of Persuasion - Arm-Twisting and Pay-Offs
Chapter 7: Mike Moore and the WTO Secretariat - Wolves in Sheeps Clothing
Chapter 8: Process Issues after Doha - Business as Usual
Chapter 9: The Doha Development Agenda - Everything but Development
Chapter 10: Summary and Conclusion
AID/WATCH is a not for profit activist organisation monitoring and
campaigning on Australian overseas aid and trade policies and programs.
We work to ensure aid-funding reaches the right people, communities and
their environments.
ATTAC is an organisation dedicated to recapturing the democratic space
that has been lost to the global financial sphere. It is fast growing
international network of independent national and local groups in some
40 countries with over 90,000 members.
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