Archive - Sep 2003 - Article

One of the Protocol's major provisions embodies the 'Precautionary Principle', recognizing that a country can forbid importation when there is not sufficient information or research results to do an adequate assessment.

Cancun is a symbol of globalisation, and the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

In an important development, yesterday the G-21 countries met yesterday to strengthen their alliance on the key issue of agriculture within the WTO.

'We all regret this sad incident,' WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi said after Lee Kyang Hae, 55, stabbed himself during a protest.

Yesterday, some 1,000 anarchists and leftists marched through downtown Cancun, banging drums and chanting anti-WTO slogans.

'Ours is a good cause, we have the support of our population and a large proportion of world opinion, this is a chance for the WTO to show it cares for the poor.' - AMORIN

Strong domestic support and export subsidies in developed nations have placed tremendous curbs on the export of farm goods by developing nations which had been blocking progress on other fronts in the WTO.

All major press conferences organized on 9th September a day before the Cancun Ministerial Conference (September 10-14, 2003) clearly show that Agriculture is going to make or break the Cancun Ministerial Conference of the WTO.

'They promised tourist development that would help indigenous people, help the local people and help the poor people. And we noticed at the beginning of the process that that was lies, that wasn't the way it was going to be.' -Aguillon

Breaking the two-year deadlock over farm trade reform is widely seen as the linchpin of the five-day meeting and an acid test of rich countries' pledges to make the Doha talks a 'development' round.