The following is the official World Trade Organisation
response to, and a hoax email from the Yes Men that sparked off, a fair
bit of confusion on the web over the past week.
More of the work of The Yes Men can be viewed at http://theyesmen.org/. Readers may also
be interested to view the remarkable resemblances between the http://www.wto.org/ and http://www.gatt.org/ websites.
---***---
Subject: World Trade Organization - Warning
Date sent: Thu, 23 May
2002 16:13:01 +0200
World Trade Organization – Hoax PR Warning
Dear Friends,
Some of you may have received a press release from those clever folks
at "Yes Men" which purports to be a press release from the "World Trade
Organization Public Relations."
This press release states that the WTO will disband and be reformed
under a new charter as the Trade Regulation Organization. Needless to
say, the communique is a hoax.
The release is quite cleverly written and it expresses noble
sentiments which include addressing the problem of market access for
poor countries and the importance of considering the development
dimension in trade negotiations. In fact, such sentiments are so noble
that the 144 WTO Member Governments committed themselves to precisely
these objectives at the Doha Ministerial Conference last November. (
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min01_e/mindecl_e.htm )
Through the use of their WebSite (
http://www.gatt.org) and other media tools, the Yes Men have had
impressive success in duping various organizations around the world into
believing that they are representatives of the WTO. While we can
appreciate their sense of humour, we would not wish for reputable news
organizations like yours to be counted among those duped.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
KEITH M. ROCKWELL Director, Information and Media Relations
---***---
HOAX EMAIL FOLLOWS…
Subject: [vicwto] WTO to shut down, refound under new charter based
on UN
Declaration of Human Rights
Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 23:30:05
+1000
[NOTE: On May 21, information regarding the WTO's restructuring was
released prematurely at a special luncheon of CPA Australia, Sydney (
http://www.aapmedianet.com.au/scripts/DisplayRelease.dll?id=304601).
The early release of this information, which met with overwhelming
approval, has accelerated this announcement, originally scheduled for
next Friday.]
May 23, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WILL DISBAND, REFOUND UNDER NEW CHARTER
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 (
http://www.gatt.org/trastat_e/) 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.
CONTACTS:
World Trade Organization Public Relations: communications@gatt.org
CPA Australia Public Relations: barbara.magee@cpaaustralia.com.au
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
Studies page: http://www.gatt.org/trastat_e/
This release online: http://www.gatt.org/
# 30 #
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