As the United Nations launches its Millennium Summit today, several hundred citizens' organizations from around the world are demanding that the World Trade Organization 'shrink or sink.'
Labor, environmental, citizen and community organizations want the WTO, which sets the rules for world trade, to change its way of doing business. The groups have published a 'Shrink or Sink' statement they will publicize at rallies, news conferences and other events throughout the UN summit of world leaders.
The WTO system 'has led to the concentration of wealth for the few and contributed to poverty and underdevelopment for the many,' said Larry Weiss, coordinator of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, one of the groups signing the statement. Weiss and other Minnesotans were among the tens of thousands of protesters last November and December in Seattle who succeeded in halting WTO negotiations.
While the United States and multinational corporations are pushing for a new round of trade talks, opponents of the current system want the WTO to open up its process - which currently is very secretive - and include provisions in trade agreements to protect basic social rights and needs, aid developing nations and protect the environment.
For a full text of the statement, WTO: Shrink or Sink!, go to www.tradewatch.org/gattwto/ShrinkSink/shrinksink.htm
Share
As the United Nations launches its Millennium Summit today, several hundred citizens’ organizations from around the world are demanding that the World Trade Organization ‘shrink or sink.’
Labor, environmental, citizen and community organizations want the WTO, which sets the rules for world trade, to change its way of doing business. The groups have published a ‘Shrink or Sink’ statement they will publicize at rallies, news conferences and other events throughout the UN summit of world leaders.
The WTO system ‘has led to the concentration of wealth for the few and contributed to poverty and underdevelopment for the many,’ said Larry Weiss, coordinator of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, one of the groups signing the statement. Weiss and other Minnesotans were among the tens of thousands of protesters last November and December in Seattle who succeeded in halting WTO negotiations.
While the United States and multinational corporations are pushing for a new round of trade talks, opponents of the current system want the WTO to open up its process – which currently is very secretive – and include provisions in trade agreements to protect basic social rights and needs, aid developing nations and protect the environment.
For a full text of the statement, WTO: Shrink or Sink!, go to www.tradewatch.org/gattwto/ShrinkSink/shrinksink.htm