Civil society decries WTO duplicity

A civil society forum yesterday criticised the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for its 'unequal, immoral' regulations that further marginalised the least developed countries (LDCs).

The Dhaka Civil Society Forum (DCSF) also blamed the WTO for non-implementation of the pledges it made to the LDCs in its different ministerial declarations.

The concerns were aired at a press briefing at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), attended by CPD Executive Director Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Regional Media and Advocacy Coordinator for South Asia Mona Laczo and Dr Zafar Ullah Chowdhury of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), among others.

"The WTO has not yet implemented the LDC agenda, adopted in the Doha declaration. But it implemented those taken in favour of developed countries," said the CPD executive director.

Mona Laczo said the WTO trade rules were crafted to favour rich countries.

The DCSF, formed mainly to hold a two-day meeting between May 29-30 on "Advancing LDC interests in the fifth WTO ministerial", will adopt a declaration ahead of a meet of trade ministers from the LDCs, said Dr Debapriya.

The DCSF meeting will try to influence the declaration by the trade ministers' meet, set for May 31 and June 2 in Dhaka, and the WTO fifth ministerial meeting, scheduled for September in Mexico.

Twenty-six overseas participants will attend the DCSF meeting, said forum organisers. The participants include Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Laos, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Switzerland, the UK and Nepal nationals.

The civil society forum will focus on the WTO Doha-mandated agenda such as market access, special and differential treatment, implementation issues and agreement on agriculture.

The CPD is pivotal in the DCSF, with the Consumers International, EU-LDC Network, Oxfam International, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, and the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute as co-organisers.