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THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION ‘MILLENNIUM Buc' TRADE ORGANIZATION THE WoRrRLD ‘MILLENNIUM Buc' Transnational corporations are using global power blocs and the WTO's dispute system in their attempts to control the resources and economies of developing countries. Part 1 of 2 he World Trade Organization (WTO), in the first four years of its existence, has built up a dark environmental and social record. Large transnational corporations (TNCs) have been the satisfied beneficiaries of its treaties, while communities and small farmers around the world have suffered from WTO-promoted ‘free trade’. This outcome is hardly surprising, as corporate lobby groups have been closely involved in the shaping of many of the WTO agreements. The WTO's model of economic development is increasingly identified as being incom- patible with ecological sustainability. In its rulings in trade disputes on bananas, beef hor- mones and numerous other products, the WTO has put trade above all else, overruling environmental, social, consumer and health considerations. Despite the increasing backlash against the WTO and its treaties, the European Commission (EC) hopes to expand further the scope of the body's mandate, as well as its power, through the proposed WTO Millennium Round (which would start in November at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle, USA). Armed with its newly adopted rhetoric to win over NGOs, the European Union (EU) continues to fashion its internation- al trade policies around the economic interests of European-based corporations. In its campaign for the Millennium Round, the Commission has been freshening up its connec- tions with European industry and encouraging corporate networks to provide input towards EU negotiating positions. This symbiotic relationship, which was solidified dur- ing negotiations on the WTO Financial Services Agreement in 1997, has now been com- plemented with a far vaguer parallel process of ‘dialogues’ with civil society. THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION'S POWERS Governments should interfere in the conduct of trade as little as possible. — Peter Sutherland, former Director General, GATT I With the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiations on 15 December 1993, crucial decision-making powers with the potential to impact billions of people were bestowed upon the World Trade Organization. Today, with a membership of over 130 countries, the body's mandate is greatly expanded from that of its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Moving beyond its historic role of setting tar- iffs and quotas, the WTO now deals with non-tariff barriers to trade (such as health and environmental standards) as well as every imaginable regulation that might somehow '‘dis- tort’ or ‘obstruct’ the free flow of goods and services. Despite its outwardly democratic appearance due to its policies of equal participation by all member states in consensus-based decision-making, the WTO is extremely undemoc- ratic and opaque. Although developing countries represent the majority of the world's nations and peoples, they have very little say in the negotiation process. Lack of financial and human resources, discussions between the most powerful countries behind closed doors and, most importantly, very strong pressure from the US and the EU often force developing-country governments into accepting deals very much against their interests. Despite a generous layer of ‘feel good’ pro-globalisation rhetoric, the goals of the EU's international trade and investment policies remain brutally inflexible. Its policies are propelled by a hunger for unfettered market access for European-based TNCs and the dismantling of local regulations in order to create a so-called global ‘level playing field’. A similar logic governs the policies adopted by other major global powers, and the by Corporate Europe Observatory © 1999 Prinseneiland 329 1013 LP Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel/fax: +31 30 236 4422 E-mail: ceo@xs4all.nl Website: www.xs4all.nl/~ceo by Corporate Europe Observatory © 1999 Prinseneiland 329 1013 LP Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel/fax: +31 30 236 4422 E-mail: ceo@xs4all.nl Website: www.xs4all.nl/~ceo NEXUS - 11 TRANSNATIONAL CONTROL OVER GLOBAL TRADE POLITICS DECEMBER 1999 — JANUARY 2000