WTO Reporter | By Daniel Pruzin | June 17, 2003
GENEVA--World Trade Organization Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi has set up two new informal advisory bodies with business and non- governmental organizations (NGOs) to facilitate dialogue on issues of common interest.
Supachai told the opening session of a WTO public symposium June 16 that he hoped the informal bodies, set up on his personal initiative, would "add to further transparency and understanding on the complexities of the WTO." He noted that both bodies, which are expected to meet twice a year, held "very constructive preliminary meetings" the previous day.
The three-day public symposium, entitled "Challenges ahead on the Road to Cancun," is bringing together representatives from governments, parliaments, NGOs, businesses, and academia to debate issues related to the Doha Round of trade talks and which will be addressed by WTO members at their upcoming ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico in September.
Members of the informal Business Advisory Body include the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB), the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederation of Europe (UNICE), the Japanese business group Nippon Keidanren, and the Evian Group business forum.
Company members include the Hong Kong-based private equity firm First Eastern Investment Group, the Indian scooter and motorcycle manufacturer Bajaj Auto, Argentina-based Bridas Corporation, the South African firms Anglovaal Mining and Tongaat-Hulett, and China Netcom Corporation.
Members of the informal NGO Advisory Body include Consumers International, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, the International Federation of Agricultural Producers, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International, Third World Network, Christian Aid, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Public Services International, the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Two NGOs Decline Invite
Two NGOs, Oxfam International and Friends of the Earth, refused an invitation from Supachai to take part in the advisory group, claiming it was not representative enough of the NGO community. "What we proposed was a wider, more open-ended consultation," said Celine Charveriat, head of Oxfam's Advocacy Office in Geneva. "We didn't feel comfortable being perceived as representing civil society and NGOs as a whole."
The list of NGO members has not been made public due to what sources said was a reluctance by these organizations, many of them fierce critics of the WTO and its free trade agenda, to be openly associated with the trade body. These sources also said the NGOs are insisting on a more formal role the WTO's activities, something which a number of WTO members--in particular developing countries--have strongly opposed.WTO Reporter:
