Mid-Atlantic
Infoshop
Infoshop News - Your source for news that really matters
news index | search | archive | contribute news | links | polls | stats | contact
Topics
  • Africa (27)
  • Alt Culture (24)
  • Alternative Media (66)
  • Anarchist Events (73)
  • Anarchist Movement (60)
  • Anarchist Opinion (141)
  • Anarchists in Trouble (130)
  • Animal Rights (21)
  • Anti-Capitalist Movement (307)
  • Anti-Psych (2)
  • Anti-Racist Action (61)
  • Anti-War Activism (40)
  • Asia (42)
  • Australia (28)
  • Biotech (33)
  • Borders (22)
  • Breaking News (113)
  • Capitalism (90)
  • Censorship (36)
  • Central America (11)
  • Direct Action (44)
  • Earth First (35)
  • Ending the Drug War (25)
  • Europe (126)
  • Fascism (78)
  • Feminism (23)
  • Fire Your Boss (59)
  • Free Peltier (8)
  • Health (1)
  • Human Rights (14)
  • Imperialism (57)
  • Indigenous (29)
  • Interviews (2)
  • Left (31)
  • Lib Tech (42)
  • Media Monopoly (59)
  • Middle East (95)
  • Neoliberalism (31)
  • Oceania (4)
  • Police State (52)
  • Practical Anarchy (22)
  • Prisons (37)
  • Queer (17)
  • Religion (11)
  • Reviews (12)
  • Science (28)
  • Sex (15)
  • South America (94)
  • Special (2)
  • Sports (18)
  • Spying on You (57)
  • Terrorism (49)
  • The State (17)
  • War Criminals (27)
  • War Machine (120)
  • Washington, DC (42)
  • Weird (41)
  • Youth (0)

  • More Links
  • Printer friendly version
  • Share this story

  • Features
  • Anti-Capitalist Protests
  • Big Mountain
  • Focus on Afghanistan
  • Focus on Bolivia
  • Focus On...
  • I-News FAQ
  • IMCs
  • Infoshop News List
  • Media Directory
  • Mikey's Media Fun
  • N9 - Anti-WTO 2001
  • News by Country/Region
  • News Kiosk Archive
  • NPR Watch
  • Showdown in Genoa

  • Search



    Support Alternative Media

    Support IMC-DC!

    The Independent Media Center in Washington, DC will be moving to a new space this Summer, so they really need financial donations right now. Please consider donating something to keep this awesome project running.


    Support Infoshop.org
    Infoshop.org runs on the volunteer work of one webmaster and a network of volunteers and contributors. While it doesn't cost us much to run this project, we don't get foundation money like many big left media websites. The webmaster is currently unemployed and really needs your help in keeping this project going. Please consider donating.

    Autonomedia

    Indymedia

    Top 5 Stories
  • How Not to Smash Global Capitalism (33)
  • Katie Sierra: The Latest and How to Help (68)
  • Retaliation by Howard Zinn (7)
  • Bolivia: Anarchists Occupy Government Buildings with Dynamite and Molotovs (9)
  • Poor White Racism (41)

  • Hot 5 Stories
  • Resistance is futile! (128)
  • An Anarchist Program For Labor (100)
  • Sketches Of Spain by John Zerzan (93)
  • Civilization and its discontents: Fredy Perlman Against History, Against Leviathon (91)
  • Lawrence Jarach Responds to Michael Albert on Anarchism (84)

  • Older Stories
  • Signs of Thaw in a Desert of Snow (7)
  • Canada, Toronto 2 the Capital -- Get Your Bus Tickets Now! (0)
  • The France of Jose Bove By Richard Kuper (0)
  • Washington is pushing India and Pakistan to the Brink of War (8)
  • How Britain's armaments fuel war and poverty (0)
  • Turkey; Usak case - initial info (0)
  • NOT MILK: Why America's dairy habit is anything but wholesome (10)
  • Police Must Notify Residents When Catholic Church Moves Into Neighborhood (2)
  • Ice oceans found on Mars (9)
  • G8 in Kananaskis: A strategic moment (8)
  • Site Launch of INKK (0)
  • SchNEWS 356, Friday 24th May, 2002 (0)
  • STAR WARS - EPISODE 2: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (14)
  • Star Wars, Their Wars (3)
  • Red & Anarchist Action Network Launched (30)

  • Infoshop News Polls
    Has filtering software ever blocked your access to Infoshop?
    Yes
    Yes. At the library
    Yes. My parents computer
    Yes. At school
    No

    [ results | polls ]

    WTO to announce schedule for disbanding
    posted by Reverend Chuck0 on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 07:25AM PDT
    Anti-Capitalist Movement

    WTO NEWS: 2002 PRESS RELEASES
    Press/295
    20 May 2002

    WTO to announce schedule for disbanding

    After a protracted and detailed review of current trade policy and its effects on developing countries, the World Trade Organization has decided to effect a cessation of all operations, to be accomplished over a period of four months, culminating in September. The WTO will reintegrate as a new trade body whose charter will be to ensure that trade benefits the poor.

    As of September, agreements reached under the WTO will be suspended pending ratification by the new organization, tentatively referred to as the Trade Regulation Organization. Many existing agreements are likely to be re-ratified, but each will be subject to individual review for compliance with the TRO's charter, which is based upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    The restructuring has come in response to numerous studies indicating that current trade liberalisation rules and policies have led to increased poverty and inequality, and have eroded democratic principles, with a disproportionately large effect on the poorest countries.

    Under the restructuring, the GATS agreement will be scrapped entirely, and a new agreement regulating services will be forged after an assessment of the effects of past services liberalisation, and when there has been adequate opportunity for governments and civil society to analyse and debate new proposals.

    In addition, all aspects of TRIPS, TRIMS, AoA, and other agreements will be reviewed with humanitarian and other considerations in mind, and will be progressively replaced with corresponding versions under the TRO.

    Proposals and resolutions for the foundation of the TRO will be evaluated beginning in June according to their likelihood of furthering the TRO charter. Specifically this will mean redressing the imbalances of existing trade agreements; providing access for developing countries to developed countries’ markets; assessing the effects past trade liberalization and redressing problems where possible; and developing an enforceable framework for special and differential treatment guaranteeing that development policies are not undermined by trade agreements.

    The immediate necessity, besides fixing core problems, will be to build a new regime of trust among members (notably between HIC and LDC members), with civil society organizations (NGOs), and with members of the public. The core goal is to establish rules whose priority is to benefit the poor, improve the environment, and strengthen democratic principles--in a pragmatic and immediate rather than theoretical and longterm sense.

    In order to provide greater access to the Least Developed Countries who will most benefit from the existence of the TRO, the organisation's headquarters will be moved from their current location in Geneva to the capital of one of the LDCs. Proposals for final location are currently being solicited. The restructuring will proceed according to the following schedule:

    May 31 Final deadline for binding resolutions
    June 30 Initial principles
    July 15 Comments and emendations to initial principles
    August 15 Final determinations of principles
    September 30 Restructuring complete

    NOTE: On May 21, information regarding the WTO's restructuring was released prematurely at a special luncheon of CPA Australia, Sydney. The early release of this information, which met with overwhelming approval, has accelerated this announcement, originally scheduled for next Friday.

    CONTACT US : World Trade Organization, rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland

    =========

    *** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.***


    Link: http://www.infoshop.org/inews/portal.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgatt.org%2F&what=T_IndexLinks&rid=3303


    < Toronto: Call to open the Pope squat. Saturday, July 27, 2002 | Rebel With a Cause >

    Ummmm... writes on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 08:07AM PDT: [ reply | parent ]
    Isn't gatt.org the fake site? Isn't http://www.wto.org/ the real one?

    Milwaukee FOMA writes on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 08:24AM PDT: [ reply | parent ]
    unfortunately, this is not the truth. The WTO has issued a statement stating that the press release (and accompanying website) are a hoax. the bbc attributed the ruse to the yes men; it is confirmed on their website (theyesmen.org); links to the bbc story can be found on the yes men site. they state that the wto dissolution hoax was on may 21. the real wto website (www.wto.org)has yet to include any info on the hoax. **federation of Milwaukee anarchists/http://foma.n3.net or www.execpc.com/~maier/**
    And on wednesday writes on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 09:00AM PDT: [ reply | parent ]
    There is no way that this is a hoax. I have definate confirmed sources including a pentagon spokesman and the official keeper of the presidents scotch^H^H^H^H^H^Hpretzel. They say that it is all true and you should all believe them, after all they both work for the government of the USA.
    Scavenger Type writes on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 03:24PM PDT: [ reply | parent ]
    I'm fairly sure this is a hoax since no studies into the benifits of free trade in third world countrys have never been done and especaly not by the WTO.
    "ivy league anarchist" ;-P writes on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 08:14PM PDT: [ reply | parent ]
    Many, many, many studies into the benefits of free trade have been undertaken--it's a simple matter of analyzing existing data.

    There is no causal relationship between WTO-style "free trade" and economic well-being in the South.

    Don't you worry, there's plenty of dissent in the ivory towers on this shit. Of course, the dissenters are mostly social-democrats with a few Trots thrown in... but twenty years into global apartheid Structural-Adjustment style, a lot of even the worst bastards are giving up on market fundamentalism. There's a steady stream of Joe Stiglitzes (see next article on newswire) whimpering for reform...

    Capitalism can always create more research to justify itself, through right-wing think-tanks and the like (not to mention straight-up PR), but the problem is not, as you say, that "no studies into the benifits of free trade have never been done."

    Robert Polsen writes on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 05:39PM PDT: [ reply | parent ]
    yes gatt.org is a RTMark-funded website :) i really wonder how they are allowed to fully copy it (you know, fucking copyrights) but anyway i'm sure this kind of statement, then revelead as an hoax, will make people think.
    got a gatt writes on Tuesday May 28 2002 @ 07:58PM PDT: [ reply | parent ]

    i work with gatt.org. we just aquired the WTO, as part of our business plan---hence the notice, which is true. anyone who wants to trade, or lives in the world, or is organized or wants to be or refuses to be, from now on must clear it with us. thanks.

    Post a Comment
    Name:
    Email:
    URL
      Remember my information (uses cookies)
    Comment:

    * HTML tags are allowed.
    * Your email will not be made public.


    Site Navigational Map Mid-Atlantic Infoshop Top PageEmail the webmasterCommunitiesWhat\'s new at the InfoshopFrequently Asked QuestionsNews and Current EventsSite Map and DirectorySearch the MA
Infoshop site

    Back to Infoshop Page | Contact Us | Communities | What\'s New | FAQ | News | Site Map | Search