Press release - 13 December, 2005
As delegates from around the world gather for the WTO Ministerial starting today, Greenpeace warned that free trade must not be prioritised over the interests of people and the environment. Greenpeace argues that the Hong Kong Ministerial can be called a success only if governments agree a complete social and environmental review of the global trade system.
"While government delegates meet behind closed doors to talk
abouttechnicalities, biodiversity is being lost at unprecedented
rates andour climate is spiralling out of control," said Daniel
Mittler, TradePolicy Advisor at Greenpeace International.
"Governments must wake upto the real impacts of free trade."
In particular, Greenpeace warns of grave environmental impacts
to beexpected if the Non-agricultural market access and services
(NAMA)negotiations are allowed to move forward. Electronic
goods,forests and fisheries are all lined up for liberalisation as
part ofthe NAMA negotiations. Liberalisation will inevitably
havenegative impacts on these sectors as effective social and
environmentalrules are lacking. More discarded electronic goods
will be dumpedon developing countries, more trees will be destroyed
in the world'slast ancient forests, and even more fish will be
pillaged from theoceans.
Greenpeace is calling on ministers from developing countries to
refuseto make any further concessions on NAMA. According to
Greenpeace,developed nations should not be rewarded by developing
countries fortheir intransigence in the agriculture negotiations.
Greenpeace wantsdeveloped countries to end all agricultural export
subsidiesimmediately without attaching any conditions to such a
move.
Greenpeace is demanding that delegates to the WTO:
* Halt the NAMA negotiations in order to prevent further
harm to poor people, forests and oceans; and
* Agree to a complete social and environmentalreview of the
global trade system. On the basis of such a review, a newglobal
trade system must be built; one that has equity andenvironmental
protection at its heart.
Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that
usesnon-violent creative confrontation to expose global
environmentalproblems to force solutions that are essential to a
green and peacefulfuture.
Other contacts: 
aniel Mittler: Trade Policy Advisor, Greenpeace International: +852 976 469 90 
Namrata Chowdhary: Greenpeace International Communications: +852 9109 9062 
Notes: 1. The Greenpeace position paper, a background paper on the impacts of the NAMA negotiations as well as images of electronic scrap-yards, illustrating the real impacts of free trade, are available at http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/trade-and-the-environment