7th Ministerial, Geneva 2009

WTO+10: Before 1999, the momentum of globalization seemed to sweep everything in front of it, including the truth. But in Seattle, ordinary women and men made truth real with collective action.

FOR weeks before the 1999 World Trade Organization Ministerial meeting in Seattle, state and local authorities had known that peaceful protests were being planned around the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. But as I drove through downtown on the night of Nov. 29 and saw waves of people returning from a rally waving placards, I got a sinking feeling that the anti-trade sentiment was stronger than people had anticipated. Was it ever.

Ministers of the G-10 met in Geneva today (Monday 30 November 2009) ahead of the 7th Session of the WTO Ministerial conference that will start this afternoon. They assessed the state of play of the DDA negotiations and their priorities in the negotiations on agriculture.

I've also just returned from a protest march against the WTO here in Geneva, attended by many people, including activists from many parts of the world.

The negotiations in various negotiating groups in Geneva are proceeding in a non-transparent manner. However, there are reasons to believe that India has substantially moved away from its earlier position, particularly in regard to Agriculture as well as NAMA (Non-Agricultural Market Access) and is virtually ready to accept what was dramatically rejected by the erstwhile Commerce Minister Kamal Nath less than a year ago under the UPA-I. The reasons for such a volte face are not known. The statements emanating from government spokespersons give the impression that ground is being prepared for justifying such an eventuality.

International Gender and Trade Network at the WTO Ministerial in Geneva

30 Nov – 2 Dec 2009

Nothing more could attest to the failure of the neoliberal dogma than the current global crises. Pure faith in the market as the sole and most efficient allocator of resources for society has dominated all aspects of economic policy (finance, trade, investments, public services delivery) and had negative consequences on people’s lives across nations, classes, ethnicities and gender. 

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26415945-23109,00.html
Police, protesters clash ahead of WTO conference
From correspondents in Geneva
Agence France-Presse
November 29, 2009 04:55am

SWISS police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at hooded protesters who broke windows and set cars alight during a demonstration ahead of a major WTO conference in Geneva.