USA og EU har problemer med å tvinge gjennom sin dagsorden. India og
Pakistan står fremdeles samlet. Jeg hører på BBC World Service at
utviklingslandene har vunnet «kampen om TRIPS» og fått en erklæring om
at TRIPS ikke er til hinder for tiltak for å beskytte folkehelsen.
USA og Sveits har stått beinhardt mot denne formuleringen inntil i
går.
Pakistans ambassadør hadde følgende kommentar om de tilreisende
NGO-aktivistene:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12542-2001Nov11.html>
The activists'"hearts are in the right place; their premise that
the global trading system has inequities is something that we
share,"said Munir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the WTO. "But we
think they get deflected by misinformation about things like food
safety and labor standards, which could be used for protectionist
purposes, and could defeat the very goals they seek of helping
developing countries. The movement from their premises to their
conclusions-that's where we think they sometimes go wrong."
Even so, Akram said, the protesters generally aid the cause of
developing countries in trade meetings such as the one in Qatar.
One such illustration came Saturday when, just outside a press
briefing being given by a U.S. delegation, a group of activists
began chanting and waving signs to protest the way the WTO meeting
is being run. The protesters focused on the creation of six
committees of trade ministers that are meeting privately to debate
the issues still dividing the WTO's 142 member nations over the
agenda for a new round of trade talks
"What goes on behind closed doors? Arm twisting! Arm twisting!"the
protesters chanted, a reference to the fear that rich nations
would use their economic clout to force less- wealthy countries
into making concessions.
Han legger ikke skjul på uenighetene som faktisk fins mellom u-land og
vestlige aktivister, men bildet er et ganske annet enn det som kommer
frem i propagandamediene.
The Financial Express, Bangalore ,India, November 12,2001
India not isolated, admits WTO
Rohit Bansal/Agencies
Doha, Nov11
The Like-Minded Group (LMG) of countries including India, Malaysia and
Pakistan remained united in its opposition on Sunday to non-trade issues
being put on to the agenda of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In an unlikely coalition, Pakistan continued to support India and India's
ability to keep many developing countries on its side prompted WTO spokesman
Mr. Keith Rockwell to admit that the country was not isolated.
He rejected the US threat of isolating India on the issue of a new trade
negotiation round admitting that Malaysia, Tanzania and Pakistan were
rallying behind New Delhi. "India is opposed to the inclusion of investment
in WTO and they are not alone in opposing it," Mr Rockwell told Indian
newspersons on the sidelines of the meetings of the whole committees.
He ruled out the possibility of a vote in case no consensus emerged on the
launch of a new round, thus rejecting the much-hyped theory of India's
isolation. `A vote is impossible," he said. Mr Rockwell's thoughts were
echoed by Pakistan envoy in Geneva Munir Akram who said at a press briefing,
"India isn't isolated in the LMG, in fact, trade negotiation is an area
where India and Pakistan have a large convergence of positions."
As for doubts about the LMC itself dissipating under US-EU pressure, he
said, "The negotiations are at a critical juncture, and so far, we the LMG
have hung together. There is, of course, a wide area to be covered. But all
of them out there have their hearts in the right place. because of the
inequities." He admitted that not all LMG members were opposed to a new
round, but said, "that's because of nomenclatural understanding of the
term. The basic issue of inequities and priorities holds".
Mr Akram denied that I.MG, or indeed developing countries, would be the ones
to walk away without an agreement on a new multilateral trade agenda. We won
't be the ones to walk away, but (it might be so from) the other side," he
said, citing textiles, environment, and labour as potential "deal breakers".
The Pak envoy, however, put up a defence for US trade representative Robert
D Zoellick that the US Congress had taken away his powers to cut a deal on
quotas and tariffs. `That's not our understanding, certainly on quotas Mr
Akram said.
Is Pakistan sincere about the coalition? Or would it, characteristically,
be cutting a secret bilateral deal with the US? Both questions didn't
provoke the envoy. Our President was in New York yesterday (Saturday). And
we haven't changed our position (in Doha) today. So, I guess that should
tell you something," Mr Akram told Time Financial Express after the presser.
But isn't there US pressure? "Intense," he confessed, going on to elaborate,
"Our understanding is that the US needs us more than we need it".
Echoing an equally "independent" sentiment, Ugandan tourism, trade, and
industry minister Edward R Rugumayo said, "The speed of a locust swarm is
determined by the slowest member. We may be a drag to the speed at which
the developed world wants to run, but can we be wished away?' Mr Rugumayo
made it clear that while standards on environment may be an electorate
issue" in the developed world, `similar electoral issues are now faced by
governments in developing societies." "Dictatorships are doomed." he said.
The LMG comprises India, Pakistan, Uganda, Dominican Republic, Egypt,
Honduras, Malaysia, Cuba, Jamaica, Tanzania, Kenya, Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
and Zimbabwe.
-- When God wants to punish a country, he makes them invade Afghanistan. -- Afghan epigram
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