Resources on Collapse of Doha Round

Nairobi Ministerial Declaration on the Doha Work Programme

Winners and Losers: Impact of the Doha Round on Developing Countries

IFG Publications on the WTO

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is among the most powerful, and one of the most secretive international bodies on earth. It is rapidly assuming the role of global government, as 149 nation-states, including the U.S., have ceded to its vast authority and powers. The WTO represents the rules-based regime of the policy of economic globalization. The central operating principal of the WTO is that commercial interests should supersede all others. Any obstacles in the path of operations and expansion of global business enterprise must be subordinated. In practice these "obstacles" are usually policies or democratic processes that act on behalf of working people, labor rights, environmental protection, human rights, consumer rights, social justice, local culture, and national sovereignty.

The International Forum on Globalization played a key role in the WTO's 1999 Ministerial in Seattle, and focused its efforts throughout most of 1999 on the WTO and its relation to the larger issue of economic globalization. We published four new reports, held a debate between leading critics and proponents of the WTO, and held a teach-in a few days prior to the WTO Ministerial meeting. Archived webcasts of the Teach-In can be viewed on the WTOwatch website. (Go to Multimedia and perform search on the "International Forum on Globalization").

For the WTO Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico (10-14 September 2003 ), the IFG hosted a two-day, Teach-In that helped unite a robust movement. Our event helped to identify and provided analyses of the critical issues and how they affect communities and impact the work of existing movements; the event also provided capacity to plan joint strategies and programs. Foremost among the events was a focus on Alternatives to Globalization [A Better World Is Possible], our report released November 2002, that provides a framework and principles for an alternative agenda to the current global economic model. The report helped form the basis for discussion and action in Cancun.

We were very optimistic about Cancun for three important reasons:

First, Mexico was a very conducive environment for public events as there were hundreds of very active Mexican grassroots groups, particularly representing what we have come to call "The Three Fs": farming fishing, and forest communities. These groups have been measurably impacted by trade and investment agreements over the last decade. IFG has been working closely with dozens of these groups over the past several years, and we strengthened our alliances and helped to provide capacity for them to participate in strategies and events prior to and in Cancun.

Second, thousands more civil society groups are activate now than were in Seattle, and they represent a very broad range of constituencies. In addition to farmers, fishers and forest communities, there are indigenous groups, labor and trade unions, small businesses, environmentalists, and many more.

Third, the global economy has been revealed as a mostly failed experiment, and we are beginning to see a political sea-change. For example, Third World governments are recognizing that their interests are not the same as the Washington Consensus countries and are increasingly declining to submit to their policies. They are highly agitated at many northern governments which have, in their view, co-opted the WTO for their interests. Brazil, one of the world's largest democracies, has elected a new president strongly opposed to the corporate globalization agenda; the Philippines has announced that it will no longer blindly submit to World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) dictates; and Argentina has been in the process of revamping its commitments to free trade ideologies. Even European countries-notably those with agricultural interests-are furious with the programs the U.S. is pushing in the WTO.

The WTO meetings in Cancun represented an opportune moment to step forward with new visionary principles for reshaping the international economic system toward a new hierarchy of values that promote equity, justice and sustainability for the planet. Which is exactly what our Alternatives to Economic Globalization report helped define. The IFG's primary objectives of "The Road to Cancun" project were to provide the critical link between international policies and institutions and local community struggles; help forge powerful alliances between sectors, such as the three Fs, that have common battles; and advocate a new program for change. We believe all these objectives, and more, were met in Cancun.

For the 2005 WTO ministerial in Hong Kong, negotiations stalled even before the ministerial began. The developed countries put enormous pressure on the developing countries to break through the deadlock. But it is a broken model, and for the developing world, no deal is better than a bad deal. For analysis on the Hong Kong ministerial, please see our Hong Kong Resources page.

By July 2006, the global trade negotiations collapsed, and talks were suspended. The developed countries were less concerned with the "development" aspect of the Doha Development Round and focused efforts on opening up more markets and reducing tariffs. As for the majority of developing nations, they wanted to maintain tariffs and other measures in order to protect their domestic agriculture and industries. According to IFG board member Martin Khor, the U.S. blamed the EU and developing countries for not putting any market access on the table. The EU in turn blamed the U.S., saying it was the only country that was not willing to show flexibility and for wanting others to pay compensation for reducing what was the most distorting aspect of global trade—agriculture subsidies. Khor stated that "The Doha talks are thus in very deep crisis...it could hibernate for months and possibly years. In fact it will be up to the U.S. whether the Round revives. It will revive only if the U.S. were to say it is ready to improve on its offer on domestic subsidy."

• Our World is Not for Sale
• Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch (includes A Citizen's Guide to the WTO)
• Third World Network
• Friends of the Earth International
• Corporate Europe Observatory
• A SEED Europe
• CorpWatch.org
• The Official World Trade Organization website

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• IFG Media Briefing on the WTO, November 4, 1999
  
• Why Developing Countries Cannot Afford New issues in the WTO Seattle Conference, by Martin Khor, Director, Third World Network
  

IFG Publications on the WTO:

	ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION [A Better World is Possible] begins with a thorough critique of economic globalization, examining its ideological underpinnings and detailing its negative economic and environmental effects. The report then continues to layout 10 governing principles for new rules and institutions for the global economy, rules that will lead to more democratic and sustainable societies. This report includes concrete examples of steps you can take today in your community to create the better world we all know is possible.
	INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT—The World Trade Organization: Global Government For The New Millennium? Authors: Debi Barker and Jerry Mander Download the report This primer is a basic briefing on the powers, structure, rules, powers, and values of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the agreements it encompasses. It includes a brief description of economic globalization —the engine driving the creation of global agreements and institutions such as the WTO. Also included is a history of post-Bretton Woods free trade institutions, leading up to the WTO, as well as thorough explanations of WTO agreements and procedures. Analyses of the WTO regime and case studies are included concerning major recent decisions on: environment, agriculture, intellectual property rights, culture and investment. (50 pages)
	VIEWS FROM THE SOUTH: The Effects of Globalization and the WTO on Third World Countries. $10 for members, $15 for non-members Authors: Martin Khor, Vandana Shiva, Walden Bello, Oronto Douglas, Sara Larrain, Anuradha Mittal. Forward by Jerry Mander. Editor: Sarah Anderson. A rare chance for a comprehensive perspective on the WTO from some of the leading voices from the South. Martin Khor (Malaysia), Vandana Shiva (India), Walden Bello (Thailand), Oronto Douglas (Nigeria) and Sara Larrain (Chile), as well as Anuradha Mittal (India and the U.S.) debunk the idea that global instruments have been designed to benefit the interests of the Third World or the poor. In fact, exactly the opposite is the case as the South bears extra burdens from the rules of trade. 100 pages.
	BY WHAT AUTHORITY? Unmasking and Challenging the Legitimacy of Global Corporations in their Assault on Democracy through the World Trade Organization. $8 for members, $12 for nonmembers Author: Tony Clarke, Chair of the IFG Committee on Corporations. This booklet looks at the specific corporations that are designing the new rules of trade, specifically, WTO rules. A sector by sector analysis (food, public health, fresh water, public education public broadcasting, forestry, etc.) reveals exactly which corporations are benefiting from some specific WTO policies. 35 pages.