Just Say No to the WTO

While the majority of Americans are still digesting their Thanksgiving turkey, environmental activists will be swinging from Seattle skyscrapers hanging anti-WTO banners beginning Sunday, November 28. Two days later, negotiators representing 135 countries will assemble in Washington State for the Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In an alternate summit, thousands of representatives from non-governmental organizations around the world will gather in protest. "The Seattle meeting has critical implications for a staggering array of agricultural and environmental issues -- from forestry, marine conservation and climate change to genetically modified foods, food security, life patenting and biodiversity," says Renske van Staveren, program associate for the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP).

Established in 1995, the WTO is the international body that enforces the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). From 1986 to 1994, GATT was expanded to include "non-tariff barriers to trade," including food safety laws and product standards. Public interest organizations worry that the WTO could weaken domestic laws designed to protect workers, the environment and consumers by creating a watered-down, pro-industry "harmonization" of standards and regulatory policies worldwide.

In a recent example of harmonization, the Venezuelan oil industry challenged the U.S. Clean Air Act, claiming that a U.S. rule, mandating that gas refiners produce cleaner gas, was biased against foreign refiners. A WTO panel ruled against the U.S., and in 1997 the EPA changed the rule. Other challenges include those to the European ban of hormone-treated beef from America, and a U.S. Endangered Species Act requirement that shrimp nets be turtle-safe.

In order to reduce barriers that impede U.S. farm imports, the U.S. government is pressing to limit a country's right to label agricultural products as to origin, genetic manipulation or production method. "We have to closely monitor the negotiations at the Seattle meeting to ensure that the organic label or other eco-labels are not considered technical barriers to trade," says Suzanne Vaupel, an attorney specializing in organic food law.

This round of negotiations may increase WTO jurisdiction to include investments, competition policy and government procurement policies. For example, the Clinton Administration has made it a priority to have a "Global Free Logging Agreement," which will eliminate tariffs on all forest products. This could result in increased logging without environmental safeguards, and the elimination of wood certification programs, according to a new report, "Our Forests at Risk," by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and Northwest Ecosystem Alliance. The American Forest and Paper Association projects that consumption of wood and pulp products will increase by 3-4%.

The Seattle activists are demanding that governments review and assess GATT's expansion and WTO's record to date. Concerned about industry domination of WTO working groups, which meet behind closed doors, they are also demanding transparency and accountability, and that the concerns of public organizations be addressed in all negotiations. They're asking that trade be fair -- not free to do unrestricted harm.

Image courtesy of Al Crespo.