Arms trade

Between 1994 and 1998, WDM worked on a number of arms trade issues.

Export credits and arms

In November 1994, we launched a campaign to stop the use of export credits to support arms sales.  This campaign alerted many other organisations to the issue.  The chancellor of the Exchequer announced a ban on the use of export credits for ‘unproductive’ expenditure (which includes arms sales) for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) in 1997.  This ban was extended to over 50 low income countries in January 2000.

For further information on on this issue contact:

• Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) http://www.caat.org.uk

For information on the current Ilisu Dam Campaign contact:

• http://www.ilisu.org.uk

EU Code of Conduct on Arms Sales

Together with Saferworld and the British and American Security Council (BASIC), WDM helped promote an EU Code which drew on all the voluntary agreements EU countries had signed up to.  The EU Code agreed by EU Foreign Ministers in May 1998 is not seen as being tough enough on situations of internal conflict or human rights, and there is no transparency.

For further information on this issue contact:

• Saferworld http://www.saferworld.co.uk
• Basic http://www.basicint.org

During the 1990s, WDM’s research and campaigns also exposed the investment of Britain’s high street banks in financing the arms trade; the link between aid and arms in Indonesia (mirroring the Pergau Dam case) and the scale of ECGD support for arms sales to Nigeria.  WDM also highlighted the need for greater transparency and accountability of arms sales.

Organisations working on arms trade issues include:

• Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) http://www.caat.org.uk
• International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) http://www.IANSA.org
• Amnesty International (AI) http://www.amnesty.org.uk

 

Asbestos action in South Africa

WDM campaigned on asbestos between 1997 and 2001

Background

Thousands of people in the Northern Cape and Northern Province of South Africa suffer from asbestos-related diseases because of the blue and brown asbestos mining, milling and manufacturing operations undertaken by the English company, Cape Plc.  Cape's own graphs show that dust levels at one South African mine were 12 to 35 times higher than permitted levels in Britain, where the dangers of asbestos had long been well-known.

Campaign

WDM campaigned with Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) to build public support for the 7,500 asbestos victims, who were suing Cape Plc for failing to observe their ‘duty of care’. Claimants, represented by the solicitors Leigh Day & Co, first brought the case against Cape in 1997. However, the company argued that the case should be heard in the South African courts until, in July 2000, five Law Lords unanimously ruled that the case should be heard in the UK. The trial date had been set for April 2002. However, in November 2001, Cape agreed to enter into a dialogue to reach a settlement - by December they had settled out of court, agreeing a compensation package worth £21 million.

For further information on the campaign please contact:

• Action for South Africa (ACTSA) http://www.actsa.org

Clean up the bailed-out banks

WDM campaigned to clean up the bailed-out banks between 2009 and 2011.

Background

Following the financial crisis of 2008, the UK government used a staggering £45.5 billion of UK taxpayers’ money – the GDP of Kenya and Tanzania combined – to prop up the Royal Bank of Scotland.

RBS used that public money to finance projects and companies that threaten the climate and human rights, such as tar sands extraction in Madagascar and Canada.

 

Debt campaign

The World Development Movement has an honourable and proud record in leading the way - fighting for debt relief and the reduction of poverty around the world

Gordon Brown September 1998.

Something criminal is being done to the world's poorest countries. The World Development Movement's (WDM) debt campaign revealed evidence that leaders of rich countries collude to give developing countries an unfair deal. They force policies such as trade liberalisation, investment deregulation and privatisation onto the poor, in return for minuscule debt relief.

The debt campaign called for:

• an end to the unjust International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank economic conditions attached to debt relief
• the cancellation of all poor country debt under a fair, transparent and democratic process for obtaining debt relief

WDM debt campaign successes:

WDM has campaigned on debt for over 20 years. After Jubilee 2000 closed, most other agencies stopped debt campaigning. WDM however, decided more could be achieved, and so we became the most active group working on debt both individually and collaboratively.

This decision has been vindicated by the UK government now accepting that many poor countries need 100 percent debt cancellation; that International Monetary Fund (IMF) gold should be used to part fund cancellation; that more countries than those on the existing list of 38 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) need debt cancellation; and, as a result of our Colludo campaign, that requiring economic policies, such as privatisation and trade liberalisation, to be implemented in return for aid is wrong.

The UK has now stopped attaching such economic policy conditions to UK aid provision.

Europe's unfair trade deals

We campaigned against Europe’s unfair trade deals from April 2008 to December 2009.

We are not against trade, but we do want to stop the European pirates stealing our resources"
- Norma Maldonado, Guatemala

In 2006. the European Union announced a new trade strategy which targeted developing countries for trade deals. These trade deals were clearly stacked in favour of European companies, for example unrestricted access to raw materials from poor countries and demanding less regulation for European corporations. The trade strategy also tried to get poor countries to open up their markets to subsidised, imported European goods and produce, rather than allowing space for developing countries to build their own industries.

Campaign successes

The campaign got a quarter of all UK MEP candidates at the 2009 European parliamentary election to sign up to the TJM ‘trade pledge’. Candidates committed to take action if they were elected to get a review of EU trade policy and to promote coherence between trade and development issues. 

WDM groups and supporters took an active part in lobbying their MEPs and candidates in the run up to the election. In total, 80 UK MEP candidates signed the pledge, including 19 elected MEPs. Together with our partners in the global south and in collaboration with our European partners, WDM raised the issue of EU’s unfair trade deals on the political agenda in Europe.

After the 2009 European election, WDM continued to play a role to ensure that the newly appointed European commissioners were questioned and scrutinised on their views on EU trade policy. A WDM group said of the trade campaign: “It was good to highlight trade issues to European politicians, as many of them were not aware of them before, and breaking the barrier of ignorance is a key first start”.

Campaign materials

The campaign produced a range of promotional materials, including videos and briefings, to help drive its key messages to a wider audience. 

Videos

The Trade Dictator (5 mins)

A silent movie which gives a tongue-in-cheek look at European trade policy, its origins and its impacts on countries in the Global South. 

The Great trade robbery (7 mins)

Satirical explanation of Europe’s aggressive trade strategy

Briefings and reports

 

• Inside Global Europe: Explaining Europe’s trade strategy
• WDM and trade – The history of WDM’s trade campaigning
• Global Europe map
• European banks fail the poor

 

Fairtrade Bananas

WDM campaigned on this issue between 1997 and 1998

Background

In June 1997, WDM and Bananalink representatives visited plantations run by Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte Fresh Produce in the Atlantic region of Costa Rica. They found strong evidence that the workers were victimised for joining free trade unions (which have been banned) and were being made to handle hazardous chemicals.

Campaign

In a powerful campaign, WDM supporters and local groups sent thousands of letters and cards, organised local talks and events, hosted Costa Rican trade unionists and dumped a tonne of banana skins in front of the UK office of Del Monte, the banana multinational.  In December 1998, Del Monte signed an historic agreement allowing SITRAP, an independent trade union, to organise freely on its Costa Rican plantations.  Although this was an important step forward, Del Monte has not fully implemented the terms of the agreement and has continued to deny workers their rights.

Ethical trade

WDM is a founding member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), involving companies, trade unions and NGOs.  WDM has pressed for the ETI companies, including most of the UK's major supermarkets, to ensure that the bananas they buy are produced according to internationally-agreed labour standards.  There is now an active ETI project on bananas in Costa Rica to follow up on WDM's campaign and ensure that all companies respect the rights of workers.

Fairtrade bananas

WDM has also been working through the Fairtrade Foundation and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) to get fair trade bananas introduced to the UK market.  Fair trade bananas are now widely available in the UK.  Look out for the Fairtrade Foundation label and buy them!

For further information on the current campaign please contact:

• WDM Scotland continue to campaign on bananas
• Bananalink http://www.bananalink.org.uk
• Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) http://www.eti.org.uk

GATS

Efforts by the World Development Movement... have got GATS exactly where the WTO does not want it to be: in the public domain

Nick Cohen, The Observer.

WDM worked on The General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) between 2000 and 2005.

Have you heard about the sale of the century? The world's services are up for grabs and the governments and corporations of rich countries are busy snapping up the best bargains from around the world. Following WDM's campaign, GATS moved from an obscure issue that no-one had heard of, to the political centre-stage.

From the moment we wake to the moment we sleep, we depend on services. We wouldn't get far without our water, health and education services, or our banks, telephone and transport systems. The service industry is huge - international trade in services is worth a staggering £1.5 million a minute.

A key role of governments should be both to ensure that people can get access to affordable basic services and to support the local economy. They do this through rules and regulations. For example, governments in many poor countries subsidise water supplies, transport and phone services in poor, rural areas by using profits generated from these services in densely populated urban areas.

But universal access to basic services and their adequate regulation are under threat with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), part of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) package of legally binding rules on global trade.

The World Development Movement (WDM) believes that GATS spells bad news for people, especially those in poor countries. For poor countries, GATS is another barrier in their efforts to break the vicious cycle of poverty.

WDM GATS successes

WDM launched its GATS campaign in 2000, with a massive public meeting in London. Over 1000 people turned up to hear WDM speak alongside author-activists George Monbiot and Naomi Klein.

Highlights of WDM's GATS campaign include:

Locally

• WDM supporters urge 262 MPs to sign an Early Day Motion calling for assessment of the impact of GATS.
• Several local councils pass anti-GATS motions.

Nationally

• The International Development Committee in Parliament calls for a Commission on the trade in services.
• The Association of University Teachers, the National Union of Students, Unison and the Scottish TUC all pass motions on GATS.
• Major organisations, such as Save the Children and Christian Aid, follow WDM's lead and begin their own GATS investigations.
• Leaked minutes of a high-level LOTIS committee of business and government reveal that WDM's campaign on GATS is causing them problems.
• WDM's GATS campaign receives substantial media coverage, including Radio 4's You and Yours programme, Newsnight and The Face magazine.

Internationally

• The UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights adopts a resolution calling on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to conduct a full assessment of the impact of GATS.
• In 2002, drafts of the European Union's (EU) GATS requests for 29 countries were sensationally leaked to GATS campaigners and the press.
• In 2003, 25 Southern and Northern civil society groups declared their objections to GATS.
• In 2003, European GATS campaigners scored a victory when European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy announced that the European Commission would not further commit Europe's health and education sectors to the free market rules of GATS.

 

Genetically modified food

WDM campaigned on genetically modified organisms (GMO) between 1999 and 2000.

Background

Biotechnology giants such as Monsanto and Astra-Zenaca have attempted to control and extract profit from some of the world’s poorest farmers by merging with multinational seed companies and buying out local seed co-operatives in the third world.  In countries such as Zimbabwe, Monsanto-owned seed companies control whole distribution networks; farmers are therefore forced to buy whatever these companies choose to sell.

Campaign

WDM was concerned about the increased concentration of GM technology in the hands of a few large companies, and the mechanisms through which it will reach farmers in the developing world.  WDM worked to highlight how GM technologies could have a detrimental impact on poor farmers in the developing world, and campaigned for strong international regulation of the trade in GMOs in the form of a Biosafety Protocol. 

In January 2000 a Biosafety Protocol was finally agreed.  This Protocol sets out important principles for the trade in GMOs, and represents a start that campaigners have fought an up-hill battle to achieve. 

Multilateral Agreement on Investment

WDM campaigned on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) between 1998 and 1999.

Background

Governments of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a club of 29 rich countries, started negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in May 1995. The MAI was to have been the world’s first investment treaty. It would have introduced new rights for foreign investors to invest wherever they saw opportunities, while restricting the powers of governments to prohibit access, attach conditions on investors or regulate in the public interest.

The MAI would have prevented developing country governments from adopting policies used by all OECD countries and the emerging economies during their development, such as South Korea’s requirements for foreign investors to form joint ventures, license technology and use local suppliers.

Campaign

Details of the MAI became publicly known in February 1997 when a draft of the text was leaked and posted on the Internet. WDM played a leading role in the campaign, undertaking research on the likely impact of the MAI on developing countries, building a coalition in the UK and EU, and working with international partners.

After a powerful civil society campaign the MAI was defeated. The French government was the first to pull out in October 1998, followed by the UK government, which vowed to abandon further negotiations and start with a "blank sheet of paper".

However, within months it became clear that the "blank sheet of paper" had World Trade Organisation (WTO) written all over it. The British government and the European Commission (EC) mounted strong political pressure for an agreement with similar objectives upon the WTO. At the Seattle WTO Ministerial in November 1999, developing country governments resisted the EC’s attempts to include investment in a new round of trade negotiations. The EC exerted even more pressure in the preparations for the Qatar ministerial conference in November 2001.

The OECD was clearly the wrong forum to negotiate a balanced agreement that would prohibit monopolies, ensure that multinationals pay taxes, stop unfair competition and ensure companies abide by internationally agreed standards on labour, the environment and human rights. But so is the WTO. It has a mandate for trade liberalisation, not for balanced rules on investment.

People Before Profits

WDM campaigned on People Before Profits between 1998 and 2000, seeking to control the power of multinational companies with strong international regulation and individual action.

In the campaign against world poverty, WDM believes that we need to challenge today’s leading global economic players in order to put the rights and demands of the worlds poor before those of multinational companies.

The size and power of multinational companies is increasing rapidly:

• Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations; only 49 are countries (based on a comparison of corporate sales and country GDPs).
• The Top 200 corporations’ combined sales are bigger than the combined economies of all countries, minus the biggest 10.

These companies could potentially bring benefits, but governments are failing to get them under control. People across the world are speaking out against multinationals abusing their power in the pursuit of profits:

At the core of the People Before Profits campaign was the recognition that the increasing power of multinational companies is not accompanied by sufficient regulation. A realistic and considered look at the roles of both governments and international institutions in regulating multinationals was long overdue.

Tied aid and development: Pergau Dam

Pergau Dam

1994

High court victory over the Pergau Dam

The UK government planned to spend £234 million of aid money on the Pergau Dam project in Malaysia. WDM believed that the benefits of the dam were dubious, and that the finance was essentially a sweetener to encourage future arms purchases from UK companies. Since the 1980 Overseas Development and Co-operation Act stated that aid can only be used for “promoting the development or maintaining the economy of a country….or the welfare of its people”, WDM was able to pursue a judicial review of the funding of the dam. It was a landmark case which ensured that future aid couldn’t be used as a political tool regardless of the development benefits or lack of them.

In 2012, we are once again campaigning to stop big business cashing in on aid.

Linking aid with arms

WDM exposed the linking of aid and arms in other countries, including Indonesia. In response the National Audit Office (NAO), the government’s own watchdog, conducted an inquiry into seven controversial British-funded aid projects. WDM also highlighted the misuse of aid to sell Westland helicopters to India.

For further current information on this issue contact:

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) http://www.caat.org.uk

For the official view/figures, and the 2015 development targets contact:

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) http://www.oecd.org/dac
• Department for International Development (DfID) http://www.dfid.gov.uk

 

Tobacco

WDM campaigned on Tobacco multinationals in 1999.

Background

Tobacco multinationals are facing increasing restrictions on the marketing of tobacco in the west.  They are therefore seeking to expand markets in the south by using aggressive marketing methods, which are now banned in many industrialised countries, to target in particular children, young people and women.  If current trends continue, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that the number of smoking related deaths in the south will increase from 1 million to 7 million a year by 2020. 

Campaign

In May 1996 at the World Heath Assembly, governments adopted a resolution calling on the director general of the WHO to initiate a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but little else was done.  In Autumn 1998, the UK government was due to publish a white paper on Tobacco.  WDM supporters successfully persuaded the UK government to include a commitment to global regulation on tobacco marketing in the white paper.  The 1999 World Health Assembly authorised work on the Framework Convention which came into force in 2005.

WDM continues to ensure that the initiative is backed by the provision of funding and human resources, and that the UK does take a lead on the WHO Convention.

For further information on the current campaign please contact:

• Action on Smoking & Health (ASH) http://www.ash.org.uk
• Framework Convention Alliance http://www.fctc.org

Toys

WDM campaigned on the rights of workers in toy factories between 1995 and 1996 and in 1998.

Background

Three out of every four toys bought in the UK have been made in Asia.  China alone produces over a third of the world’s toys.  Much of this work is subcontracted by the big toy companies to Asian factories.  Research undertaken in China by the Hong Kong Coalition for the Charter on the Safe Production of Toys revealed that workers are not being adequately protected and their health and safety continue to be undermined by long hours, low pay and at times perilous working conditions.

Campaign

Following major fires and deaths in toy factories in Thailand and China, WDM representatives visited Thailand to see factories and meet workers.  This led to the launch of a UK campaign in partnership with Asia Monitor Resource Centre in Hong Kong, Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) and the TUC, to press for a code of conduct on the production of toys.

In January 1996, the British Toy and Hobbies Association (BTHA) agreed their own health and safety code.  This closely matched the code promoted by WDM and the Asian campaigners, except there was no recognition of trade union negotiating rights, and there was to be no independent monitoring.  The impact of the code is being monitored in Asia, but so far there is little sign of any significant improvements in working conditions. 

For further information on the current campaign please contact:

Trocaire http://www.trocaire.org

Transnational companies

WDM has also run one-off campaigns on individual transnational companies (TNCs) in support of communities or workers in poor countries. Companies included Disney, Nestlé, Rio-Tinto, Shell and P&O.

Mining - Rio Tinto (formerly RTZ) 1996 - 1999

Background

The Grasberg opencast mine lies in the forested hills of West Papua and exploits gold and copper deposits that are amongst the largest in the world.  The mine is operated by an Indonesian subsidiary of the US company Freeport McMoran, in which Rio Tinto has a significant share.  The company has transformed the rainforest into a vast complex of mines, roads, towns and the world's longest tramway.  But local people have not benefited.  Instead, they have seen their hunting ground taken over, their rivers polluted and their sacred mountain ravaged.  They were neither consulted nor given adequate compensation.  Hundreds of people were displaced by the first mine site and have been resettled in a crowded and unhealthy township. 

Campaign

Since March 1996, WDM, together with Partizans, TAPOL and Survival, has worked with the Amungme people in West Papua, Indonesia, for consultation and adequate compensation for the indigenous people whose land was taken for mining by Rio Tinto (& Freeport McMoran).  WDM met with the company and arranged meetings with West Papuans, pressed institutional shareholders to raise the issue with the board, and participated in AGM actions. 

The company has introduced new social responsibility and environmental policies, but this has not translated into changes on the ground.

For further information on the current campaign please contact:
Mines and Communities http://www.minesandcommunities.org/
or
Survival International http://www.survival-international.org

Disney 1997

Background

Despite having adopted a code of conduct supposedly ensuring workers’ rights, research showed that workers making Disney garments in Haiti are still not benefiting from the company’s promises.  Workers receive paltry wages - often too little to feed their families - and face intimidation or even dismissal for trying to raise concerns by joining  trade unions.

Campaign

In 1997 WDM joined the Haiti Support groups and the GMB union in supporting the Haitian workers’ struggle, calling on Disney to improve working conditions in factories in Haiti and worldwide, in particular urging Disney to implement its own code of conduct, recognise workers' organisations and pay all of its workers a living wage. Batay Ouvriye, the grassroots union operating in Haiti, has requested a halt on international campaigning for the present.

Nestle 1998

Background

Nestle and other companies continue to violate the International Code of Marketing of breast milk substitutes, agreed in 1981 by 118 countries, as well as flouting subsequent resolutions of the World Health Assembly.  The marketing code aims to protect infant health by controlling the marketing of artificial milks and other baby foods, which replace breast milk.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1.5 million infants die around the world every year because they are not breastfed, especially as a result of diarrhoea caused by unsafe water used to mix feeds or wash bottles.

Campaign

WDM supports Baby Milk Action in the campaign to stop Nestle and other baby milk companies breaching the WHO guidelines on marketing of baby milk.

For further information on the current campaign, please contact:

• Baby Milk Action http://www.babymilkaction.org

Shell 1997 - 1998

Background

Shell has faced international condemnation for the environmental and human rights consequences of its operations in Ogoniland, Nigeria.  The lands of the Ogoni and other tribes have been polluted through the flaring of gas and multiple oil spills. Opposition to the operations was met with violent suppression by the army.  Local people were not properly consulted beforehand and most did not benefit from the operations.

Campaign

Since early 1997 WDM has supported the campaign pressing for Shell to make improvements in their company policy.  This includes supporting the shareholder resolution at Shell's 1997 AGM and supporting MOSOP, the Ogoni people's organisation, who believe that little has changed on the ground and that Shell's recent concern for the environment is just PR.

For further information on the current campaign please contact:

• Movement for Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) http://www.oneworld.org/mosop

P&O 1998

Background

The shipping giant P&O planned to build a passenger and cargo port eight times the size of Liverpool across an area known as the 'lungs of Bombay'.  It is one of only three sites in the whole of India to have been designated an ‘ecologically fragile area’ and is protected by Indian national law.  The port – potentially one of the largest anywhere in the world – would have destroyed the lands and livelihoods of local communities, including fishermen and the Warli tribe.

Campaign

WDM supported the strong local campaign in India to stop P&O taking their lands.  In October 1998, P&O announced that it would not go ahead with the scheme to build the port.

Premier Oil 1998

Background

By investing in an oil pipeline in Burma against the wishes of the democratically elected majority (who have been prevented from taking power), Premier Oil is bolstering a repressive military regime. At least one million people are estimated to have been displaced within the country, whilst more than 100,000 refugees have fled to Thailand.  The military regime has forced an estimated two million men, women and children to work on infrastructure projects such as roads, railways and tourist sites, seriously abusing workers’ rights and violating international conventions.

Campaign

WDM has worked with the Burma Campaign UK to support the call for all foreign companies to disinvest in Burma.

For further information on the current campaign please contact:

• Burma Campaign UK http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php

Water campaign

WDM campaigned on the issue of water privatisation in poor countries between 2005 and 2008.

Water is a gift from Earth. We need to take care of it and preserve it so the next generation can live. If we don’t, the cost is the people, it is us

Oscar Olivera, water activist, Bolivia, 2006.

Background

Most of us take clean water for granted, but a sixth of the world’s population aren’t so lucky. Over a billion people worldwide cannot reach or afford clean water.

Nearly two million children die every year because they do not have regular, safe water to drink, while the lives of many more people are blighted by the illness and preventable diseases that result from unsafe water and poor sanitation.

WDM lobbied for the UK government to adopt policies that promote access to clean drinking water, rather than waste aid money on failed privatisation. WDM campaigned to limit the spread of coporate control over water resources, and against climate change that threatens water supplies worldwide.

Water campaign successes  

• In 2009, following our campaign, the EU announced it would commit 40 million Euros to support progressive public water schemes in developing countries. The funds will help public utilities to develop partnerships to share expertise, build capacity and spread good practice. Public utilities are still largely responsible for providing water to developing countries and this will vastly improve the water supply for communities across the world.
• In March 2007, thanks to emails, postcards and letters sent by WDM activists, Hilary Benn announced support for the public water sector in developing countries, marking a significant shift away from the government's previous pro-privatisation approach.
• In May 2007, Gopal Chintan, a water activist from Nepal, asked for WDM's help to stop Severn Trent from participating in water privatisation in his country. WDM supporters responded in huge numbers. And following one of our most popular online campaigns Severn Trent, the sole bidder for the contract, pulled out of the bidding process.

 

World Trade Organisation

WDM has been campaigning on trade issues for almost three decades and monitoring negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since its creation in 1995.

Background

We have been an active part of the global community of campaigners that organise counter-summits and protests around WTO meetings. WDM also has a long track record of producing credible and incisive analysis of trade issues. We have attended the past four WTO Ministerial meetings:
Seattle (1999), Doha (2001), Cancun (2003), Hong Kong (2005).

We will be going again in November 2009 as world leaders push for a conclusion to the Doha round in the wake of the global economic crisis. Check here for updates.

WTO campaign successes

2004: Prevented the UK and EU from pushing through an agreement in the WTO which would have forced developing countries to allow western private companies to take over essential services such as water, banking and shops (GATS).

2004: Got the EU to drop its demands on developing countries in trade negotiations to open up their water services to private, western companies.

2003: Prevented the UK and EU from pushing through an agreement in the WTO which would have forced developing countries to remove regulations on western companies (the ‘new issues’).

WTO Ministerials:

Gone wrong in Hong Kong (2005)

The WTO failed to deliver a genuinely pro-development outcome at the sixth ministerial conference held in Hong Kong. It locked in a number of anti-development measures and it became obvious that the outcomes could not work in the interests of developing countries. WDM concluded that the talks should be drawn to a halt.
WDM went to Hong Kong to expose the coercion, to highlight the real issues and to make sure the voices of southern campaigners were heard.

Can do in Cancun? (2003)

The fifth ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico came to a dramatic end in 2003 without agreement - leaving negotiations in a deadlock. On the agenda were a range of issues agreed upon at the 2001 ministerial meeting in Doha, including agriculture, services and the environment. The European Union continued to push for an expansion of the WTO's powers to include new issues (investment, competition policy, government procurement and trade facilitation) insisting that these issues get dealt with first before the development issues that should have been prioritised. Developing countries refused to be pushed into a corner as they rejected talks on several ‘new issues’ and proved that they are a force to be reckoned with at the WTO.
 

Doha declares (2001)

It was at the fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar where the Doha Declaration launched a wide ranging ‘round’ of trade negotiations including industrial tariffs, agriculture, services and a raft of ‘new issues’, such as rules limiting government regulation of multinational investors. The WTO and the EU dubbed this round the ‘Doha Development Round’, even though the agenda clearly favoured richer nations.

The final hours of the negotiations saw a repeat of the underhand tactics of Seattle. Secret talks were held and some countries were physically locked out of meetings. The unaccountable facilitators of the negotiating groups were picked by the WTO secretariat and major industrialised powers. They ran a process where there were no agendas, no minutes and no accountability.

Seattle debacle (1999)

Seattle hosted the infamous third ministerial conference where Europe and the US proposed to expand the WTO’s mandate in a way which would give unprecedented powers to corporations. Street protests by a broad alliance of campaigners brought the WTO to international attention and raised awareness that its rules are deeply unfair. The Seattle ministerial collapsed and the seeds were sown for a long campaign to fight for just international trade agreements.
The WTO’s first ministerial conference was held in Singapore in December 1996 and the second was held in Geneva in May 1998.