Press release - July 24, 2006
As Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Pascal Lamy failed to break the deadlock in global trade talks today, Greenpeace called on governments to face the facts, Doha is dead. Greenpeace called for this opportunity to be used to build a new global trade system based on equity and sustainability.
The current deadlock was caused by developed countries, mainly
the US,who refused to cut their massive support measures for
farmers. At thesame time, the US and EU were seeking to
significantly increased accessfor their industrial goods and
services to developing nations markets'.Despite claiming that they
were willing to be flexible at last week'sG8 meeting, the world's
richest nations failed to bend.
"As on climate change, Bush had nothing but sweet words to offer
ontrade; he is squarely to blame for this current impasse. The
US'sunwillingness to wean their large scale-agro businesses off
theirunfair support is an outrage" said Daniel Mittler, Trade
Policy Advisorof Greenpeace International. "Governments must now
abandon the Dohatalks that have been going nowhere over the last
five years".
"The WTO failure today proves yet again, that the time of
bulldozingthe interests of the developing world has passed," added
Mittler. "Theglobal community must now act to put an end to trade
policies thatpromote the destruction of ecosystems and undermine
the interests ofthe poor."
Greenpeace condemned the intransigency of the United States and
theEuropean Union and congratulated key developing countries for
notaccepting a deal full of "empty promises and 'peanuts'" in
return forunacceptable concessions in the negotiations areas of
industrial goodsand services.
Greenpeace now urges the global community to conduct a complete
socialand environmental assessment of the global trade system. As
first step,the negotiations to clarify the relationship between
trade rules andMultilateral Environmental Agreements, such as the
Kyoto Protocol, needto be shifted to an independent forum. The
International Court ofJustice and the United Nation's International
Law Commission are,according to Greenpeace, more appropriate
institutions to take thesenegotiations forward. "Multilateral
alternatives to the WTO exist. Nowis the time for governments to
explore them" concluded Mittler.
VVPR info: For further information and/or interviews, please contact: Daniel Mittler, Trade Policy Advisor, Greenpeace International, +49 171 876 5345