anti-glob

From: Olivier Hoedeman <paxaran@antenna.nl>

Financial Times, September 16 1999


GLOBALISATION: Coalition launches drive against trade liberalisation
By Mark Suzman in Washington

A coalition of more than 1,100 public interest groups in 87 countries
will
today launch a petition demanding a halt to efforts to launch a new
round
of trade liberalisation talks at the World Trade Organisation's
ministerial
meeting in Seattle this November.

The statement will be unveiled at a rally in Washington as part of a
global
day of action to oppose any expansion of the WTO. The event, being timed
to
coincide with separate demonstrations in 15 countries ranging from Nepal
to
Japan, is being led by Public Citizen, a consumer activist group, and
Friends of the Earth, a big environmentalist organisation.

It will be attended by several Democratic members of Congress as well as

labour and environmental leaders.

The petition marks the launch of an international "mobilisation against
globalisation" being orchestrated by a diverse range of non-
governmental
organisations ranging from environmentalists to labour unions and
consumer
groups, all opposed to further trade talks.

Despite strong support from business for a proposed "millennium round"
of
trade expansion negotiations, the US and other governments are
increasingly
concerned that the emerging populist campaign could overshadow the
formal
agenda at the Seattle meetings and trigger a backlash against free
trade.

The petition urges an end to "any effort to expand the powers of the WTO

through a new comprehensive round of trade liberalisation" and calls for
a
formal review of the international trading system to make it more
accountable.

"The Uruguay Round agreements have functioned principally to prise open
markets for the benefit of transnational corporations at the expense of
national economies; workers, farmers and other people; and the
environment," it says. "In addition the WTO system, rules and procedures

are undemocratic, untransparent and non-accountable and have operated to

marginalise the majority of the world's people."

Thousands of protestors from around the world are planning to descend on

Seattle for a series of rallies, teach-ins and other demonstrations.
They
are using the internet to co-ordinate activities and link diverse groups

around the common goal of disrupting the talks.

A group called the Ruckus Society, which specialises in training people
in
non-violent civil disobedience, will this weekend host a special
Globalise
This! action camp for anti-trade activists near Seattle to help prepare
strategies and tactics for November.

In the greater Seattle area the influential local environmental lobby is

also trying to recruit many citizens to help in the protests, in part by

spearheading a campaign against specific trade proposals that carry
local
resonance, such as an initiative to end global tariffs on forest
products.

Although US companies insist the measure, which is strongly backed by US

trade officials, would pose no threat to the environment, more than 100
conservation groups yesterday launched a new report warning that the
deal
could undermine American laws protecting forests.


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