Fair Trade

The Deal with the Doha Rounds

by Zarah Patriana

Published March 31, 2009 @ 02:05PM PT

[AP Photo]

People in the UK are gearing up for the G20 summit that is coming up in a few days and people in the U.S. are eagerly waiting for the Obama Administration to act on bringing about fairer trade policies. Recently confirmed Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke has insisted that he is pushing for 'fair trade' for better environmental and labor standards. However, US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk who also believes in fairer trade policies, has been making statements that have fair trade policy seekers worried. As guest blogger, James Ploeser pointed out in the comments section,

Here in the U.S. fair traders are watching eagerly to see if President Obama makes good on his promises to push for substantial reforms in the multilateral trading system. Some worrisome comments have emerged from some around him, including US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, that they will push to conclude the Doha round of the WTO negotiations.

Reckless pursuit of Doha conclusion means more of the same failed trade policies that have hurt workers, the environment, and done nothing to spur the sustainable development that the world is yearning for.

The Doha Round of the WTO negotiations is called the "development round" aiming to help developing countries is actually not the case. A push to conclude the Doha Rounds could be detrimental to these developing countries and will only see more of the same WTO policies of neo-liberal corporate globalization, which by looking at our current crisis has not fared well for anyone. Lori Wallach and Deborah James gave a detailed and eye-opening report after one of several failed attempts of pushing for Doha.

[T]he focus of energy should be on how the world’s governments can develop a multilateral trade system that preserves the benefits of trade for growth and development, while pruning away the many anti-democratic constraints on domestic policy making contained in the existing WTO rules. These rules are designed to create a world that operates as one single homogenized global market rather than setting terms of trade between separate nations with distinct priorities.

The critics of corporate globalization are for international trade between different, unique countries or regions when it is mutually beneficial. To strike this balance between promoting trade while respecting the laws and values of different countries, some existing international rules and institutions need to be cut back, while others need to be bolstered.

The WTO must be scaled back so that the human rights, environmental, labor and other multilaterally agreed public interest standards already enshrined in various international treaties can serve as a floor of conduct for corporations seeking the benefits of global trade rules.

The WTO experiment has failed. Replacing the overreaching WTO agenda with fair rules aimed at facilitating trade between willing countries is the only way forward.

So Ambassador Kirk, instead of pushing for the Doha Rounds, which would most likely bring more of the same, it is time to look toward alternatives that really do focus on fairer rules and true representation of people and the environment. You know, that fair trade policy you were talking about.