15 December 2005 - CRINMAIL 739
Special Edition on the World Trade Organisation Talks

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 WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION TALKS: What are they? [Q&A]

- CHILD POVERTY: Impacts of trade liberalisation on poor children [publication]

- HUMAN RIGHTS: Using exception clauses to protect human rights [publication]

- TRADE INVADERS: Developing Countries' Right to Protect [publication]

- FAIR TRADE: Supporting poor countries to trade their way out of poverty [publication]

- USEFUL WEBSITES: International organisations, News and NGOs [resources]

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Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at [email protected]. Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.

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- WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION TALKS: What are they? [Q&A]

Ministers from around the world are attempting to reach a deal on international trade rules this week, in the World Trade Organisation's Ministerial Conference taking place in Hong Kong, China, from 13-18 December 2005. The talks are seen as a key stage in shaping the future of international commerce. But what are the negotiations all about?

The BBC drafted a Q&A for those who don't know much about it:

What is the World Trade Organisation?

With 149 member countries, the World Trade Organisation's purpose is the promotion of free trade. Set up in 1995, it opposes tariffs and trade barriers and has been closely associated with globalisation. The WTO polices free trade agreements, settles trade disputes between countries and organises negotiations. Its decisions are absolute and members must abide by its rulings. The WTO's Ministerial Conference is its top decision making body and must meet at least every two years. From December 13 to 18 it convenes in Hong Kong.

What are the talks about?

Issues of particular concern to developing countries will be the focus of discussions in Hong Kong. The negotiations are known as the Doha Round because they began in the Qatar capital, at WTO talks in 2001. The aim is to produce a comprehensive agreement to reduce a wide range of trade barriers for agriculture, industry and services. It had been hoped that an agreement would be reached in 2005. Late 2006 is now the aim, to allow the US Congress to ratify it by July 2007. Hong Kong is a key staging post.

What are developing countries' aims?

The G20 group of richer developing countries wants farm trade reform, especially from the EU. The group, including Brazil, India, China and South Africa, believes lower farm tariffs and subsidies would help its members export far more produce to rich countries. Outside the G20, other developing countries - especially those in Africa - fear a general reduction in trade barriers would erode preferential deals they already have. Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali want an end to cotton subsidies paid to rich countries' farmers

What do developed countries want?

A key aim of developed countries is better access to international markets for services like legal advice and insurance. Many consider access to rapidly developing economies as vital to their own growth. The EU is under pressure to cut farm subsidies, but is divided over what to do. While it has agreed to phase out export subsidies, some members, like the UK, would go further. The US proposes to cut its own heavy farm subsidies. Other countries like Japan are also under pressure to act.

Is an agreement likely?

There is scepticism about whether agreement will be reached in Hong Kong. It is suggested many countries would prefer no deal to a "bad" deal. In theory, completing the Doha round would boost world economic growth, raise average incomes and reduce prices. It has also been suggested that millions of people living on $1 a day or less would be lifted out of extreme poverty. Failure to complete the round would mean the loss of these predicted benefits. But others argue that the poor in developing countries might lose out. Whatever happens, the WTO would still exist and would continue to facilitate trade. But more regional deals might be likely.

For more information, visit:

CRIN's web page on the WTO conference:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6717&flag=event

The BBC's in-depth section on the talks:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2004/world_trade/default.stm

The WTO information page for NGOs:
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min05_e/ngo_info_e.htm

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- CHILD POVERTY: Impacts of trade liberalisation on poor children [publication]

A new policy brief from Save the Children UK's Young Lives project, "The Social Impacts of Trade Liberalisation: How Can Childhood Poverty Be Reduced?", examines the impacts of trade liberalisation on poor children. Although issues related to children, particularly children's wellbeing, children's rights and child poverty are marginalised from debates on the consequences of globalisation and trade liberalisation, these processes are likely to have a major impact on the lives of poor children and their families. It is especially important to recognise this because the international community emphasises trade liberalisation as a tool for poverty reduction.

One point of agreement in the 2005 UN World Summit was that: "A universal, rule-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system, as well as meaningful trade liberalisation, can substantially stimulate development world-wide, benefiting countries at all stages of development. In that regard, we reaffirm our commitment to trade liberalisation and to ensure that trade plays its full part in promoting economic growth, employment and development for all". (Resolution adopted by the General Assembly, 24 October 2005)

However, trade liberalisation does not generate homogenous benefits to the whole population, and its effects on poverty reduction are not always experienced in the short term. Thus, government policy must pay specific attention to these differential impacts in order to mitigate the inequities that trade liberalisation is likely to exacerbate in developing countries.

The effects that structural policies, like trade liberalisation, have on children, need to be traced from the changes they generate on macro economic variables, such as consumer prices, through to individual household livelihoods - and the complexity of differential intra-household effects. Such analysis is important for policy making which may involve compensating for any negative impacts or harnessing the benefits liberalisation to improve the conditions of children living in poverty.

The impact of trade liberalisation on children is likely to vary between:
- Different children in the same household (e.g. girls / boys, the very young / adolescents)
- Similar children in different types of household (e.g. rural / urban, rich / poor)
- Similar children whose households are involved in different economic sectors (e.g. agriculture, manufacturing)

Given that children comprise a significant proportion of the population in developing countries where children are overly represented among the poor, any discussion of the social impacts of trade must be approached from a child-sensitive perspective.

Additionally, there are likely to be important differences in the impact of trade liberalisation amongst developing countries, according to their level of market integration, relative terms of trade and bargaining power in the world economy, composition of their economies, and the degree of comparative advantage in different sectors.

This brief looks first at the general ways in which trade liberalisation can impact on children. It then discusses findings from Young Lives quantitative and qualitative research in Peru and Ethiopia to verify how these impacts play out in practice. It concludes by considering the policy implication of these findings.

For more information, contact:
Paola Pereznieto, Policy Officer
Young Lives Project
c/o Save the Children, 1, St John's Lane
London EC1M 4AR, UK
Tel: + 44 207 012 6796
Email: [email protected]
Website: http//www.younglives.org.uk

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6808&flag=report

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- HUMAN RIGHTS: Using exception clauses to protect human rights [publication]

In view of the discussions around the sixth session of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has released a publication, "Human Rights and World Trade Agreements: using general exception clauses to protect human rights".

The relationship between trade and human rights has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. While trade can be an engine for the economic growth needed to combat
poverty and promote development, it can also threaten human rights in some situations.

Recent discussions on the effects of patents on the prices of essential medicines have underlined the right to health dimensions of trade. Nonetheless, there are ways to reconcile trade rules and human rights, and channel economic growth and development towards achieving a life in dignity for all.

This publication explores one of several, namely the use of general exception clauses in world trade agreements as a vehicle to protect human rights. In particular, it sets out to demonstrate how three specific exceptions - allowing States to take measures to protect public morals, human life or health, and public order - could be relevant to human rights.

Chapter I sets out the four steps to interpret these general exception clauses and describes, from a legal point of view, how they could be applied to protect human rights.

Chapter II relies on common sense as well as the WTO's seemingly flexible approach to defining the general exception clauses as means to defend human rights norms as legitimate exceptions to trade rules. More specifically, it argues that recognising international human rights norms in this way would help to dispel some of the perceived drawbacks of trade liberalisation. It would also enable States to comply with both their human rights obligations and their WTO commitments, and would show respect for the decisions of their parliaments and courts.

Finally, chapter III examines how trade dispute proceedings differ from adjudicatory systems under the human rights model. It describes the practical and legal pitfalls of raising human rights concerns before a forum meant to settle international trade disputes, and suggests ways of avoiding them.

For more information, contact:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6780

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- TRADE INVADERS: Developing Countries' Right to Protect [publication]

In a recent report, released a week before the WTO talks started, the international development agency ActionAid warned that developing countries will be trapped in poverty if they are denied the right to protect their economies against international competition.

The report 'Trade Invaders: the WTO and Developing Countries' Right to Protect' looks at the downside of free trade policies and economic liberalisation. ActionAid's case studies - from Brazil, the Gambia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa - describe how, time after time, farmers have been ruined and factories closed down as cheap goods from abroad flooded in after trade barriers were lifted.

The removal of tariffs on textile imports has forced 20 factories in Nigeria to close with the loss of over 16,000 jobs. A further 18 factories are threatened with closure. Since 1998, almost two-thirds of jobs in the sector have been lost. In the Gambia, cheap imports of chicken, eggs, milk and rice have flooded the market, depressing prices and putting many local producers out of business.

The report asserts that poor countries have the right to protect the small-scale farms and developing industries on which millions depend for their daily livelihoods and their economic future. It argues that today's rich countries, and the newly industrialised countries of Asia, were able to protect their industries at crucial stages in their development.

In the WTO agriculture talks, developing countries are battling for the right to exempt vital food crops (Special Products) from tariff reductions, and for a mechanism to deal with import surges of cheap agricultural products. In the negotiations on non-agricultural market access (NAMA), current proposals would compel developing countries to cap or reduce tariffs drastically on industrial imports. In the General Agreement on Trade in Services talks, developing countries are under pressure to open their service sectors - even the most basic services such as education, health and water - to international competition.

ActionAid says that developing countries should be exempt from further liberalisation unless they themselves choose it. In a foreword ActionAid International's chief executive, Ramesh Singh, writes: "We believe that developing countries should have the right to protect their 'policy space' in the multilateral trading system so that they can nurture their agriculture, industrial and service sectors in any way they deem appropriate, just as today's industrialised countries did when they were developing."

For more information, contact:
Action Aid
PostNet suite #248, Private bag X31
Saxonwold 2132, Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: + 27 11 880 0008; Fax: + 27 11 880 8082
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.actionaid.org

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6801

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- FAIR TRADE: Supporting poor countries to trade their way out of poverty [publication]

Oxfam International released a series of Briefing Notes on trade. "Scaling up aid for trade: how to support poor countries to trade their way out of poverty" states that, whether or not trade helps to lift millions of people out of poverty depends on the ability of developing countries to actively participate in the multilateral trading system, and to effectively pursue their national development agendas.

A major challenge is the inadequacy of trade-related assistance and capacity building for developing countries. Many poor countries will be unable to take advantage of trade opportunities even with fairer trade rules. Therefore, the paper concludes that aid for trade is urgently needed for developing countries, especially the poorest, so that they can benefit from trade to promote economic growth and reduce poverty.

However, this aid must be recipient-driven, additional, adequate, predictable, free of economic conditions and complementary to - and not serving as a substitute for - better and fairer trade rules. The paper gives a list of recommendations.

For more information, contact:
Oxfam House
John Smith Drive, Cowley
Oxford OX4 2JY, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 473727
Website: http://www.oxfam.org.uk or http://www.maketradefair.com

To read all of Oxfam's Briefing Notes on trade, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6803

For more information on fair trade and the WTO talks, visit:
http://www.maketradefair.com

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- USEFUL WEBSITES: International organisations, News and NGOs [resources]

* International Organisations:

WTO homepage:
http://www.wto.org

WTO Hong Kong talks page:
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min05_e/min05_e.htm

The host government's website for the talks:
http://www.wtomc6.gov.hk

International Monetary Fund (IMF):
http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2005/121405.htm

OECD and the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference:
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,2340,en_2649_201185_35738477_1_1_1_1,0...

* News:

Inter Press Service News Agency, special coverage on the summit entitles: Trade Justice: The Challenge of the WTO Ministerial Conference:
http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/wto/index.asp

BBC in depth coverage, The Battle over Trade:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2004/world_trade/default.stm

* NGOs:

World Development Movement:
http://www.wdm.org.uk/wto/index.htm

War on Want, The Ding Dong in Hong Kong:
http://www.waronwant.org/?lid=11088

Public Citizen, Global Trade Watch:
http://www.citizen.org/trade/

Oxfam's Make Trade Fair website:
http://www.maketradefair.com
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