Free trade pacts more dangerous than WTO

In the wake of the collapse of the Doha talks in the World Trade Organization (WTO), negotiations for the country to enter into an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement (FTA) have become more urgent for industrialized countries. But independent think-tank IBON Foundation warns that entering into an FTA could be even more dangerous than liberalization under the WTO.

According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, FTAs often involve a higher degree of obligation to liberalize their economies than multilateral trade agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT, which gave birth to the WTO. Recent FTAs have in fact already been called