But the majority nations demonstrated at Cancún that by working together they can take control. Either the WTO will be made democratic or a new body will be set up with population-based majority voting.
The primary trade objective of a world organisation should be to encourage and enable the poor to add value to their commodities and crops within their own communities and boundaries. Countries with poor communities must be encouraged to use appropriate subsidies, tariffs and import quotas, but these restrictive measures should be reduced on a sliding scale as their economies strengthen. Rich countries should remove all fiscal measures that promote exports or benefit well established companies, but not those measures that help small businesses and growers to serve a local market.
This policy was pioneered by the American Founders in their struggle against the tyranny of British companies and led to Alexander Hamilton's 'infant industry protection' policy that regulated US trade from 1789.
TRIPs - (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) The TRIPs agreement protects patent rights - almost all of which belong to western companies - and countries are no longer allowed to make patent regulations to suit domestic conditions. The TRIPs agreement is a restriction on trade in favour of corporations, a blatant infringement of the WTO's own free trade agenda. It limits the use and development of knowledge, paralyses scientific research, benefits only the rich, prevents technology-transfer to the poor, denies affordable access to lifesaving medicines, appropriates farmers' use of traditional knowledge, reduces biodiversity and allows the properties of plants and animals to become private property.
The Age of Consent
George Monbiot 2003
