2005:03PU International Trade
Whereas earlier NCWC resolutions on international trade (02.10, 02.5 PU, 3.2) called for:
- democratization, transparency, and accountability in institutions governing international trade;
- greater attention to equality of development outcome from trade agreements involving developed and developing countries;
Whereas the World Trade Organization (WTO) currently dominates trade negotiations with a narrow focus on economic to the exclusion of social and environmental considerations, rendering equitable sustainable development ever more elusive, and the more democratic United Nations Council for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) increasingly powerless;
Whereas the current post-Doha work plan of the WTO pays scant attention to the priorities of the developing states (reduction/removal of agricultural subsidies in developed states, access for agricultural and other primary resources products and light manufacturing products such as textiles and clothing to developed world markets), while at the same time fast-tracking negotiations and agreements for the greater “value added” trade access requirements of the developed world (in ascending order):
a. services of all sorts e.g. professional, financial, social, tourism, communication
b. intellectual property
c. investment
d. competition
e. government procurement
f. trade facilitation
g. electronic communication and commerce
h. technology transfer (e.g. human genome)
i. environment (water, soil, minerals, forests, wildlife, biota)
Whereas this unbalanced negotiating power will aggravate already escalating inequities within and among states and will further exacerbate existing gender gaps;
Resolved: that the National Council of Women of Canada adopt a policy to call for a more balanced World Trade Organization (WTO) work plan such that, in the interests of a more just and equitable world, developing state trade and sustainable development priorities take precedence over those of the relatively better-off developed states; and be it further
Resolved: that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to promote a more balanced World Trade Organization (WTO) work plan such that, in the interests of a more just and equitable world, developing state trade and sustainable development priorities take precedence over those of the relatively better-off developed states.