NGOs calls on WTO to reschedule millenium round

NGOs calls on WTO to reschedule millenium round

JAKARTA (JP): At least 40 local non-governmental organizations
joined their foreign counterparts in calling on Wednesday for a
delay in the launch of the World Trade Organization's next round
of trade talks.

Sukma Violetta, a representative of the NGOs, said the plan to
open a new round of multilateral trade talks in Seattle in
November was still premature because the impact of the last trade
liberalization agreement on developing countries had not been
assessed.

"We oppose the launch of the new round. The last Uruguay Round
itself has raised problems in developing countries, such as the
increase of poverty and environmental damage as consequences of
the free trade acceleration," Sukma told a press briefing.

She said the next trade talks, scheduled to be held in
November when the organization convenes its third ministerial
meeting in Seattle, USA, aimed for new rules to reduce tariffs on
industrial goods, including agricultural products and services,
which were due for discussion at the next round.

Members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) agreed at
their summit in New Zealand last week to speed up economic
liberalization during the WTO's next meeting.

Unlike the Uruguay Round, which dealt with liberalization in
trade and services, the next round would discuss non-trade
sectors such as multilateral arrangements on investment,
government goods procurement, competition policies and electronic
commerce.

Sukma said the U.S. recommended the WTO adopt a sectoral
approach or an "early harvest" system in the so-called
"Millennium Round", while the European Community wanted to retain
the comprehensive method whereby the rules would come into effect
as a single package at the conclusion of the round.

She added that the new round of talks was planned to be run
simultaneously, over a shorter period, than the Uruguay Round,
which has taken eight years to complete.

"Indonesia, like other developing countries, will need to go
to a lot of trouble to absorb all the issues and talks, and even
more to adopt them," she said.

"This country needs more time to get prepared and straighten
up its economic and social problems before entering the free
market."

The NGO grouping, calling themselves the Indonesian Anti-
Millennium Round Committee, also asked the government to
establish a national consultation board to formulate a national
agenda to determine its position on proposals at the next
ministerial meeting in Seattle in November.

"We ask the government, both the current and the next
administration, to reject the proposal of developed countries to
launch the Millennium Round before reviewing the implementation
of the Uruguay Round in the country," said Sukma, a
representative of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law
(ICEL).

She said the committee had established a special team to
deliver their objections to the WTO's new trade round plan.

Nur Hidayat from the Agriculture Reformation Consortium (KPA)
said that the NGOs, like their counterparts in developing
countries, are working on lobbying the government and publicizing
studies of the impact of free trade through seminars, workshops,
discussions and public debates involving the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The committee also includes, among others, the International
Forum for Indonesian Development (INFID), the National Consortium
for Indonesian Forest and Nature Preservation (Konphalindo), the
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), the Urban Poor
Consortium (UPC), the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and
the Indonesian Pesticide Action Network (PAN). (01)