WTO Process Issues

Statements and analysis from civil society

Letter from 400 organizations from more than 150 countries to WTO Members: Stop all trade and investment treaty negotiations during the COVID-19 outbreak and refocus on access to medical supplies and saving lives, April 30, 2020.
English, Spanish, French.

Call to halt fisheries subsidies negotiations in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, April 1, 2020.
English, Spanish, French.
Response from WTO DG Azevêdo.

As WTO dispute settlement system collapses, civil society calls attention to need for fundamental change in global trade, Dec 9, 2019.

Nov 30, 2017: In an unprecedented action, the Argentine government has revoked the accreditation of 63 civil society experts — trade unionists, development advocates, digital rights activists, environmentalists, and others — just days before the 11th Ministerial meeting of the WTO (MC11) in Buenos Aires, advising the WTO that the experts will not be allowed in the country to participate in the meeting. The majority of the rejected organizations work together through the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network.

• Media advisory: English Spanish French.
• Letter to the WTO: English, Spanish. French.
• Follow-up letter, Dec 3, 2017.
• Dec 10, 2017: Statement by Sally Burch: English, Spanish.
• Dec 13, 2017: Open letter on civil society rights.

Letter from Global Civil Society about the Agenda of the WTO, Oct 9, 2017.
English: pdf, docx. Spanish: pdf, docx. French: pdf, docx. Greek: pdf, docx.

Global Civil Society letter on the Nairobi Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dec 9, 2015.
English, Español, Français.

still relevant:
WTO Turnaround 2013: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Development First – Statement (Oct 28, 2013).
English Spanish French Portuguese.

Updates on the negotiations

COVID-19 straw breaks free trade camel's back, May 21, 2020.

The insanity of business-as-usual trade negotiations: While most nations are focused on coping with Covid-19 and its aftermath, some rich countries are pushing binding WTO rules, May 7, 2020.

The WTO 20 years after the ‘battle of Seattle’, Nov 29, 2019.

The United States, the European Union, Australia, and Brazil have blocked a major deliverable concerning the special safeguard mechanism (SSM) for the developing countries, Nov 30, 2015.

Older updates

For older updates, see here.