Articles

Stand Firm on Defending India’s Food Security Nothing Less will Do for India!

6 December, 2013
Welcoming bold and principled statements on food security and in upholding the G-33 proposal by Mr. Anand Sharma, Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry at the WTO 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali, civil society groups called on the minister to stand firm on defending India’s Food Security!

Global Civil Society urges Gita Wirjawan to pursue G33 Food Security Proposal

4 December, 2013
Global civil society, call upon Gita Wirjawan, Indonesian Trade Minister to pay urgent attention to the matter of food security across developing countries and urge you to pursue, as the leader of the the G-33, a permanent solution to the proposal on food security tabled by this group.

ACP Civil Society Calls on the ACP, the Africa Group and the LDCs to Defend Food Sovereignty and Support the G-33

4 December, 2013
ACP Civil society calls on the ACP, the Africa Group and the LDCs to Defend Food Sovereignty and Support the G-33 food security proposal.

WTO food fight in Bali? By Martin Khor

3 December, 2013
In this article, Martin Khor, Executive Director of Geneva-based South Centre writes about tense battle at 9th WTO Ministerial Meeting in Bali.

World Trade Organization (WTO) Members Must Respect Non-Negotiating Ministerial - OWINFS Network

2 December, 2013
On December 2, 2013 Our World is Not for Sale Network urged WTO members to respect Non-Negotiating Ministerial in Bali and called upon them to approve the LDC package and urgently Remove WTO obstacles to Food Security post-Bali.

Major effort on to railroad developing countries to surrender at Bali?

30 November, 2013
SUNS - South North Development Monitor
In this article Mr Chakravarthi Raghavan, who has been following GATT/WTO for the past decade, highlights problems in the undemocratic WTO process and resistance from developing countries. He argues that, "it is not for developing countries to act and enable the US and EU to gain confidence in the WTO system as an instrument to deliver for them, but it is time for the US, EU and secretariats of international organisations to act to regain confidence in them of the developing world and their people."

Global Civil Society Letter to Roberto Azevêdo on Yemen’s Accession Commitments on IP

28 November, 2013
In this letter to Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, Director General, WTO, 162 organizations expressed concerns regarding intellectual property commitments being forced on Yemen as part of its WTO accession package that will be presented for formal adoption, to the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, 3-6 December 2013.

Global Civil Society Celebrates Failure of Talks at World Trade Organization (WTO)

27 November, 2013
On November 26, 2013 WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo announced that governments have failed to reach agreement on a “Bali package” in advance of the upcoming Ministerial, set for December 3-6, 2013. The global civil society Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS) network, which has long opposed the talks on Trade Facilitation (see June letter) celebrated this outcome, while urging governments to focus their time in Bali onmaking permanent changes to WTO rules to allow developing countries to pursue Food Security.

US Civil society call upon US Govt. to support G33 Food Security Proposal

26 November, 2013
In this letter to Ambassador Mike Froman, United State Trade Representative (USTR) and Ambassador Michael Punke Deputy USTR and Permanent Representative to the WTO, Civil society groups from US express dismay over over US opposition to G33 proposal and urged the US government to support the G33’s proposal to allow for greater public spending to ensure more stable food supplies and prices in developing countries

Global civil society calls for a Permanent Solution to G 33 Food Security Proposal in WTO

20 November, 2013
Over 280 civil society organizations representing a broad range of civil society groups and global union federations representing hundreds of millions of workers across the world urged Roberto Azevedo, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and WTO member states, to take the issue of food security in developing countries as a matter of serious and immediate concern not to render the G-33 proposal on public food stockholding a travesty by asking developing countries to agree to the current text on the peace clause.

Experts caution against rush into a trade facilitation agreement

20 November, 2013
TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov13/09)
A group of eminent trade experts from developing countries has advised developing countries to be very cautious and not be rushed into an agreement on trade facilitation (TF) by the Bali WTO Ministerial Conference, given the current internal imbalance in the proposed agreement as well as the serious implementation challenges it poses.

A Peace Clause, without Peace in Food Security

19 November, 2013
South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) #7699
A draft text of the 'Peace Clause' agreed to at the WTO by a select group of countries on Saturday 16 November ad referendum - subject to approval by capitals - seems likely to assure no Peace to developing countries on food security, and more specifically to the ability of developing country governments to procure food from their producers for public stock-holding and distribution to the poor.

What's Going on at the WTO? : Opportunities and Risks Before the 9th Ministerial Meeting

18 November, 2013
The Huffington Post
In this critical blog Deborah James, Director, International Programs at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, writes on some of the key messages from the Global civil society, trade unions and people's movements on What's Going on at the WTO? Opportunities and Risks Before the 9th Ministerial Meeting.

Experts stress importance of public stockholding for food security

18 November, 2013
TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov13/06)
A group of eminent trade experts from developing countries has highlighted the importance of public stockholding for food security, and the need to correct some of the imbalances in the present rules on agricultural subsidies in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The views of these eminent experts are reflected in a report titled "The WTO's Bali Ministerial and Food Security for Developing Countries: Need for Equity and Justice in the Rules on Agricultural Subsidies", drawn from discussions at two expert group meetings organised by the Geneva-based South Centre.

Indian farmers call for rejection of draft ‘peace clause' solution

18 November, 2013
TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov13/07)
Expressing alarm over the "take-it-or-leave-it" draft text on an interim solution on the G-33 proposal on public stockholding for food security, a number of farmers' groups in India have called on their government to reject such a ‘peace clause'. In a letter dated 14 November 2013 and addressed to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, these groups instead demanded a "permanent solution" to protect farmers' livelihoods and access to food.

Bali package must be tied up in next few days, says Azevedo

18 November, 2013
TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov13/05)
The Bali package must be tied up once and for all in the next few days, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Mr Roberto Azevedo, told an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) on Tuesday.

International Civil Society Sends Letter to Governments Opposing Proposed “Trade in Services Agreement (TISA)”

16 September, 2013
Today, as governments meet in Geneva to negotiate a proposed Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), 341 organizations representing hundreds of thousands of people from nearly every developing and developed country, called on governments to abandon the talks. Among the endorsers were 42 major international and regional networks such as Public Services International (PSI), UNI Global Union, the European Federation of Public Services Unions (EPSU), the IndustriALL Global Union, the International Union of Food and Allied Workers (IUF), and the ATTAC European network. The letter was organized by the OWINFS network.

Video: Press Conference, G20 Counter-Summit, St-Petersburg, Sept. 2, 2013

2 September, 2013

G20 Counter-Summit Press Conference
St-Petersburg, Sept. 2, 2013

With Boris Kagarlitsky (Institute for Globalization and Social Movements, IGSO, Russia), Diana Aguiar (Brazil Network for the Integration of Peoples -REBRIP, Brazil), Kevin Danaher (Global Exchange, USA), Au Loong Yu (China Labor Net, China)

Press Release: G20 Summit and Counter summit in Saint-Petersburg

26 August, 2013
On the 3-4th of September in St. Petersburg a counter-summit, a large-scale international event that aims to be an alternative to the September G20 Summit and to develop new principles of economic and social policy that are not based on the "Washington Consensus" will be held. The international counter-summit organised by the "Post-globalization" initiative will bring together world-renowned experts, politicians, economists, social scientists from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. In the frames of the counter-summit panel discussions, seminars and public lectures will be held.

NGOs Condemn the EU Press Release on TRIPS Extension for LDCs

21 June, 2013
On 11th June 2013, the WTO TRIPS Council took a decision (IP/C/64) to extend for a further 8 years, the flexibility of least developed country (LDC) Members under Article 66.1 to not apply the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement except for Articles 3, 4 and 5 (which concern national treatment and most-favored nation treatment). This decision was a compromise deal as the EU and US exerted intense pressure on the LDCs to accept conditionalities that are not in favour of the people in the LDCs.