Key documents

11th WTO Ministerial - Letter from Global Civil Society about the Agenda of the WTO

srijan — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 08:36:59 +0000

11 October, 2017

Trade Ministers from only 35 countries will attend a “mini-Ministerial” in Morocco which is intended to solidify the agenda for the upcoming 11th Ministerial Conference of the 164-member WTO (MC11) to be held December 10-13, 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Members of 300 civil society organizations (CSOs) including trade unions, environmentalists, farmers, development advocates, and public interest groups from over 150 countries just sent an urgent letter to WTO members to raise alarm “that some WTO members are pushing a dangerous and inappropriate new agenda.” It was organized by the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network and is available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Greek.

Government Procurement the Old “New Issue” at WTO Nairobi Ministerial: What is at Stake for Developing Countries?

Manicandan — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 04:13:40 +0000

16 December, 2015

The 10th WTO Ministerial being held in Nairobi, Kenya has become the platform for yet another battle of wills between the WTO’s developed and developing members. For the developing countries it is a battle for essential development tools such the continuation of subsidies for poor farmers to support public food programmes, or for a safeguard mechanism to protect their farmers from sudden surges in imports. For the LDCs in particular it is an attempt to get a binding and effective LDC package including on cotton trade, unlike the best endeavour deal they got in the Bali Ministerial.

Provisions likely to be proposed if SOEs (competition) are added to the WTO: Why is this relevant?

Manicandan — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 03:56:06 +0000

16 December, 2015

State owned enterprises (SOEs) can be used for a variety of public purposes, including economic development, industrialisation, economic management, support for local businesses, employment, regional development, social and cultural needs, and infrastructure. If SOE negotiations are added to the World Trade Organization (WTO), this is likely to restrict these SOE roles.

Global Civil Society letter on the Nairobi Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Manicandan — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 07:25:06 +0000

14 December, 2015

Dear Members of the WTO,

As members of 460 civil society organizations including trade unions, environmentalists, farmers, development advocates, and public interest groups from over 150 countries, we are writing today to express extreme alarm about the current situation of the negotiations in the WTO. We urge you to take seriously the need for the upcoming Nairobi Ministerial to change existing WTO rules to make the global trading system more compatible with people-centered development, and to forestall efforts by some developed countries to abandon the development agenda and replace it with a set of so-called “new issues” that actually are non-trade issues that would impact deeply on domestic economies and constrain national policy space required for development and public interest.

Uruguay abandons TISA negotiations! A victory for PSI affiliates

Manicandan — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 07:37:29 +0000

8 September, 2015

Public Services International (PSI)

With a statement on the President’s website and following political debate on the issue, President Tabaré Vázques announced on 7 September that Uruguay will leave the TISA negotiations.

Destruction of US credibility at WTO

Manicandan — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 06:25:47 +0000

10 September, 2015

live mint

Assessing US's position in WTO negotiations on permanent solution to the public stock-holding issue in food security, Timothy A. Wise and Biraj Patnaik argue that 'it is hypocritical of the US to give price support to its farmers while denying it to the world’s poorest farmers'.

TISA Text and Analysis: Annex on International Maritime Transport Services

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 07:53:01 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TiSA Annex on International Maritime Transport Services concentrates on the privatization of maritime transport services in TiSA countries, opening up the maritime services industries to transnational companies and contractors. Affected services would include cargo and passenger transport, cargo handling, storage, warehousing and loading services. WikiLeaks has previously published an earlier version of the Maritime Transport Services Annex. This April 2015 text dates from the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

TISA Text and Analysis: Annex on Electronic Commerce

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 07:45:49 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TiSA Annex on Electronic Commerce places restrictions on the regulation of electronic commercial services, disallows requirements for local data storage and processing, and obliges states to allow private data gathered in connection with the provision of e-commerce services to flow freely over borders. An earlier version of the Electronic Commerce Annex was previously published by WikiLeaks. This April 2015 text dates from shortly after the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

TiSA Financial Services Negotiating Text and analysis

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 07:40:49 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TiSA Financial Services Annex sets rules which would assist the expansion of financial multi-nationals – mainly headquartered in New York, London, Paris and Frankfurt – into other nations by preventing regulatory barriers. Two earlier versions of the Financial Services Annex have previously been published by WikiLeaks. This April 2015 text dates from the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

TISA Text and Analysis: Annex on Telecommunication Services

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 07:15:28 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TISA Annex on Telecommunication Services concentrates on standardizing a communications regulatory regime across all TiSA countries, preventing states from discriminating against foreign or foreign-owned telecommunications providers where to do so would create obstacles to trade or result in a loss of competition, and ensuring access for foreign companies to undersea fiber-optic cables and landing facilities. An earlier version of the Annex was previously published by WikiLeaks. This April 2015 text dates from the 12th TiSA negotiating round help from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva Switzerland.

Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) Core Text and Analysis

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 07:08:27 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft core text of Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) contains the most general provisional language agreed by the Parties, establishing the overall legal architecture of TiSA. Specialist areas, such as maritime transport services, or electronic commerce, are dealt with in "Annexes", which are negotiated alongside the core text. WikiLeaks has previously published a large number of secret TiSA Annexes. WikiLeaks' publication of the present core text for the first time gives the public a picture of the scale and scope of TiSA, and illustrates the overarching legal framework for previously published Annexes. The draft core text dates from April 2015, shortly after the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

TISA Text and Analysis: Transparency Negotiating Text

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 06:52:06 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TISA Annex on transparency aims to make governments more transparent to global commercial actors, creating obligations to notify and consult with transnational corporations on decisions and measures which may affect their interests. Two earlier versions of the Annex have previously been published by WikiLeaks. This April 2015 text dates from shortly before the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

TISA Text and Analysis: Annex on Domestic Regulation

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 05:54:00 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TISA Annex on domestic regulation restricts the ability of TiSA states to enact regulations which affect the international trade in services, or which are deemed incompatible with the market philosophy underlying TiSA. WikiLeaks has previously published an earlier version of this Annex. The April 2015 text dates from shortly after the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

TISA Text and Analysis: Annex on Movement of Natural Persons

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 05:46:40 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TISA Annex on movement of natural persons aims to harmonize limitations on the ability of national governments to restrict the ingress, movement or egress within their territory of employees, contractors or agents of services companies. An earlier version of this Annex was previously published by WikiLeaks. This April 2015 text dates from the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

TISA Text and Analysis: Annex on Government Procurement

Manicandan — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 05:34:28 +0000

2 July, 2015

Wikileaks

The draft TISA Annex on Government procurement aims to regulate the processes by which TiSA governments procure services to ensure that service markets are opened up to international competition and to give foreign services suppliers footing to contest domestic services suppliers in government tendering and procurement procedures. This April 2015 text dates from shortly after the 12th round of TiSA negotiations held from 13-17 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.