WTO Fails to Foster Sustainable Development
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WWW : http://www.envirolink.org/environews/ens/newsfeed/oct1196-02.html
WTO Fails to Foster Sustainable Development
Posted to the web: Fri Oct 11 17:23:25 EDT 1996
WINNIPEG, October 10, (ENS) - The International Institute for Sustainable
Development (IISD) has released a scathing assessment of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) and sustainable development. The WTO assessment is an
in-depth progress report in preparation for the WTO's first meeting of trade
ministers in Singapore in December said David Runnalls, Director of the
Trade Program at IISD.
"We conclude that the WTO has failed to integrate sustainable development
concerns into trade policies, that the organization still conducts its
business behind closed doors, and has been slow to develop relations with
other organizations essential for its success," Runnalls said.
The report points out the need for immediate action, arguing that if the
environment is not given more importance in the trade rules, consumers and
environmentalists will take their grievances outside the system.
Since sustainable development is a cross-cutting issue affecting all of the
work of the WTO, this report examines not only the work of the WTO Committee
on Trade and the Environment, but that of the other WTO Councils and
Committees.
The Report criticizes the WTO for its failure to evolve from its
predecessor, the General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade (GATT). "The
dominant theme has been continuity from the GATT to the WTO," analyzed
Runnells. "A culture of closed decision-making has persisted, inefficient
internal structures have carried over without reflection, and the dispute
settlement process still resembles the rules committee of a club.
"The Committee on Development has achieved nothing notable," Runnells
concluded, "and the Committee on Trade and Environment may continue a record
of futility which now dates back twenty-four years to the first creation of
the abortive environment committee of the GATT."
The report recognizes that large economies such as the United States and the
European Union have shown a tendency to take unilateral actions when they
feel the formal trading system does not respond to their priorities.
Runnalls sees a strong potential for alliances between frustrated
environmental groups and protectionists on issues such as the trade in
forest products.
The World Trade Organization was created as a result of the Uruguay Round of
Trade Negotiations just over two years ago and this Report is critical of
its ineffectiveness in linking the issues of sustainable development and
trade liberalization. With the WTO hosting its first meeting of trade
ministers in Singapore in December this year, Runnalls said, "It is critithat
the Singapore Ministerial address these limitations of the WTO."
Three assessment documents are available in hard copy from the International
Institute for Sustainable Development in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and
on-line at IISDnet: http://iisd1.iisd.ca/ A four page executive summary, a
thirty-four page summary assessment and the full Assessment Report can be
viewed and down-loaded on-line.
Head-quartered in Winnipeg, IISD's mission is to promote sustainable
development in decision making internationally and within Canada. To be
sustainable, development must improve economic efficiency, protect and
restore ecological systems and enhance the well-being of people. The IISD
defines its work as contributing new knowledge and concepts, analyzing
policies, identifying disseminating information about best practices,
demonstrating how to measure progress, and building partnerships to amplify
these messages.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development was established in
1990 with continuing financial support from Environment Canada, the Canadian
International Development Agency and the Province of Manitoba. It also
receives revenue from foundations and other private sector sources.
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Ron E. Mader, Publisher
El Planeta Platica: Eco Travels in Latin America
WWW http://www.planeta.com
ron@txinfinet.com
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