Jill Evans is in Cancun, Mexico for the World Trade Organisation ministerial summit. This is the first of her reports, which appeared in the Western Mail on 8 September..
WTO Fifth Ministerial Conference
CANCUN, Mexico
September 10 – 14 2003
Seeking a fairer deal for fair trade
Tension is building as the fifth World Trade Organisation Ministerial summit in Cancun, Mexico, approaches. The talks are seen as crucial for developing countries who were promised a fairer share of the benefits of world trade when the WTO launched this current round of negotiations. Apart from the ministers and official delegates, about 15,000 people are expected and 15,000 extra police have been drafted in. The whole city has been divided into security zones and travelling there has been made very difficult to deter protestors - the rules on visas and passes were changing every day last week.
In order to get access to the high security areas and report back to people in Wales what was happening in Cancun, I was privileged to act as a correspondent for the "Western Mail" and applied for press accreditation which would get me the necessary passes. The WTO had turned many people down and when I telephoned their Headquarters in Geneva to inquire about progress on my application I was told they hadn't decided yet. I emphasised that this was the national newspaper of Wales which she clearly hadn't been aware of and she said they would look at my forms again. Sure enough, the next day I got my accreditation and will be reporting back to "Western Mail" readers from the summit.
Many of the developing countries have been openly critical of the way the richest countries have tried to force their demands on the rest of the world. Following heated meetings, particularly on agriculture, a showdown is expected in Cancun on the main issues: market access, domestic subsidies and export subsidies.
Most of the world's poor depend on agriculture for their survival. If they can't sell their produce, they can't afford the most basic things that we take for granted like school for their children or health care. In developing countries they receive no government support but have to deal with trade liberalisation, which means they are in direct competition with the richest farmers in the world. This is what the writer and specialist in food and trade, Devinder Sharma from India, calls "The Great Trade Robbery". He was the first to compare the life of the western cow with that of the Third World farmer and discovered that the European Union provides a daily subsidy of 2.7 dollars per cow whilst half of India's 1000 million people live on less than two dollars a day.
The third WTO Ministerial in Seattle, remembered for the anti-globalisation riots, ended in failure. The fourth in Doha, Saudi Arabia, agreed what was described as a "Development Agenda" but almost every deadline set in Doha has been missed.
Even the last minute agreement on the thorny question of access to cheap non patented drugs for developing countries has created more problems than it solved. This is a major problem for countries ravaged by HIV/AIDS but also applies to malaria and tuberculosis. An agreement had been reached in December last year but it was vetoed by the USA after massive lobbying by the big US pharmaceutical companies. The US has now proposed an alternative which, according to Medecins sans Frontieres and Oxfam, won't make essential drugs cheaper and will create other difficulties.
One of the most controversial issues will be whether to start talks on investment, competition, government procurement and customs issues. These are called the "Singapore Issues". Sixty eight WTO members from developing countries are opposing the launch of these new negotiations, including India, China, Malaysia and Indonesia, representing almost half the world's population. Opening negotiations on these issues now is ludicrous when agreement hasn't yet been reached on a whole host of issues already on the table. What's more, many developing countries don't regard these so-called 'Singapore Issues' as priorities for discussion now - they have far more pressing issues to deal with. But the WTO still refuses to rule it out.
It's not too late. The rich WTO members could make trade fair - as called for in the three million name "Big Noise" petition from Oxfam. But this depends on political will. I am not optimistic that we will see anything like the determination from the USA to go to war used in fighting poverty.
The United States and the European Union have drawn up a text on agriculture which demands more market access from the rest of the world but offers them only limited concessions on reform of subidies and the dumping of surplus produce. Brazil, India, China and South Africa have now put forward their own proposals.
Going to the WTO summit will be a fascinating experience and an opportunity to meet many different groups of people from all over the world. But that in itself does not justify travelling to Cancun. I am going because I received so many cards and letters from people in Wales who are deeply concerned about the WTO and want to support fair trade. They are working in Wales through various organisations and their churches and chapels and as their elected representative I want to take that message to Cancun from Wales and be one of the many urging the ministers to listen. We in Wales have a long history of standing up for the rights of nations threatened by the major powers of this world. This summit is the WTO's opportunity to listen to us and deliver on its assurances of fairer global trade made at Doha some 18 months ago.
Jill Evans ASE/MEP
