Friends of the Earth achieves goals as WTO talks collapse.30 November 1999
The ambitious trade plans of the US, EU, Japan, and Canada were halted after WTO talks collapsed following dynamic opposition from civil society and developing countries in Seattle.
Environmental, labour, and agriculture forces dealt a fatal blow to
the headlong pursuit of the global free trade agenda, although much
work remains to be done. Developing countries were shut out of the process,
not given critical negotiating documents and excluded from key meetings.
Their furious response meant that talks had to be postponed to future
meetings in Geneva.
Proposals to put biotechnology into the WTO failed. The US and Canada
wanted a working group to accelerate trade in biotechnology and genetically
engineered foods. But their plans were thwarted, despite an unprecedented
climb-down by the EU. In the run-up to the Seattle talks, the EU said
that it was opposed to the inclusion of biotechnology in the proposed
Millennium Round of WTO negotiations. Instead it insisted that biotechnology
should be dealt with under the proposed UN Biosafety Protocol (which
Friends of the Earth supports).
The Biosafety Protocol negotiations, will restart in January, and look
set to allow Southern countries and others to place restrictions on
the import of GM food and crops on environmental and health grounds.
This would be much more difficult if biotechnology became part of the
remit of the WTO.
However EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy indicated that the EU was no longer opposed to the establishment of a Biotechnology Working Group as part of the new round. Representatives of European governments present in Seattle were incensed at this about-turn. UK Environment Minister Michael Meacher claimed that the move was beyond the EU Commissioners remit and against previous decisions.
Get these updates first
If you would like these news updates to be emailed to you as soon as
they come out, then join our real food mailing list.
Register
Here
