Canada NewsWire | November 12, 2001
DOHA, QATAR - As World Trade Organization talks enter the final phase in Doha, they remain gridlocked over a number of important issues. Canada is chairing one of the committees that is the most divisive: investment issues.
"The WTO meeting is in trouble," said Greenpeace Canada campaigns director Jo Dufay. "After the collapse of the Seattle talks, the stakes are high and the pressure great to avoid another failure. We could be looking at a bad agreement with very little content as a result."
The remaining issues highlight the deep rift between developed and developing countries. These include market access to goods from developing countries, agricultural subsidies and the environment. Late Monday Doha time, it appeared an agreement had been reached on the divisive issue of patents for pharmaceutical drugs.
Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew is calling for a new development round, which Greenpeace opposes. "His idea of a development round is to get rich first and worry about the planet later. Too bad you can't buy back the environment," said Dufay.
Canada was dumped as head of the environment committee at the WTO after Greenpeace objected a country with such an extreme record of favouring trade agreements over environmental ones was leading the delicate discussions. Chile replaced Canada, which was then put in charge of investment talks.
"The European Union has strongly called for clarifying WTO rules relating to environment and trade. But Canada's missing in action again," said Dufay, who noted talks to protect the environment against trade rules are going badly. Yesterday, the WTO decided not to include the environment in the talks, which she said meant the continued supremacy of trade agreements over the environment.
She also criticized Pettigrew's call for a new development round, which is presented as a way to help mend the rift between developed and developing nations.
"Pettigrew's calls for a new development round are hypocrisy," said Dufay. "The world's poorest countries don't want to talk about liberalizing investment or government procurement or competition policies. They want to talk about their ability to control their economic destiny. It's absolute hypocrisy for Pettigrew to call for a development round, while simultaneously fighting against the wishes of developing countries."
Dufay is part of the Greenpeace delegation in Qatar. Its flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, is anchored in Doha Harbour, where it is doubling as a radio station, broadcasting WTO updates on FM in Qatar and via the internet worldwide.
CONTACT: Jo Dufay, in Qatar (nine hours ahead of Ottawa), Cell: 011 44 7801 858 459; Hotel 011 974 436 5263; Marjorie Nichol, Greenpeace Communications, Office: (416) 597-8408 x3002
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