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| November 25, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 22, 1426 |
WTO regime termed harmful to interests of developing states
HYDERABAD, Nov 24: Speakers at a seminar held here on Thursday said that WTO policies were aimed at converting the world into a single economic unit to control economies of developing countries by the private sector of the developed world. The seminar, “WTO and its implications on agriculture in Pakistan”, was organized by the Actionaid-Pakistan in collaboration with the WTO unit of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and the WTO cell of the Sindh agriculture department.
Adviser to the Sindh chief minister on agriculture and food, Mr Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, was chief guest on the occasion.
The speakers said that multi-national companies wanted to deprive thousands of people associated with agriculture of their livelihood under the general agreement on trade in services (GATS).
They said that the WTO wanted to eliminate subsidies in the agriculture sector which were being given to farmers in Pakistan.
They said that provision of services like health, water supply and education were responsibilities of the state while under the WTO developed countries’ private sector would offer these services to people of developing countries which would be expensive and only affordable by the elite as 90 per cent population could not afford it.
They said that a coalition of the private sector wanted to control economy of developing countries to protect their interests and they had been behind concept of GATS so that they could avail better market opportunities.
They described history of the WTO not only dubious but questionable and full of blackmailing which was based on dishonesty and negated constitutional and fundamental human rights.
The adviser said that the government was committed to organize the agriculture sector to improve its export and prepare ourselves for the WTO.
He stressed the need for reducing cost of production of per acre yield while increasing per acre yield.
Mr Jatoi said the Sindh Seed Corporation had been revived and by the next year it would give its full output.
He said that in collaboration with the federal government a Rs4 billion project would be executed for improvement of the agriculture sector.
He said the Sindh government was trying to offer subsidies to farmers while introducing sprinkle and drip irrigation system.
Najma Sadeque of the Shirkat Gah said that WTO’s basics needed to be understood carefully because countries that had signed the WTO without studying it were facing its implications now.
She said the WTO’s objectives called for converting world into one economic unit where investors could invest their capital wherever they liked and manufacture products.
She said that world’s 10 corporations were controlling 60 per cent of world trade of pesticides, seeds, chemicals, processing and manufacturing.
She said that 80 per cent of 65,000 MNCs belonged to the West and 13,000 to the South while out of 500 big MNCs headquarters of 38 per cent were based in the United States.
She said that GATS would directly affect water supply, agriculture and food sectors and it was likely to create serious implications for growers in Pakistan.
Dubbing the WTO as ‘World Take Over’, Ms Sadeque said that it stressed elimination of subsidies whereas in the US and Europe there was refusal to end subsidies and there was a cry by rural and people’s movement to separate agriculture from the WTO.
She said that so far 130 countries had surrendered before the WTO’s demands by amending their constitution.
Mustafa Talpur of the Actionaid-Pakistan said that GATS had defined fishing, harvesting, crops production, livestock and pastures management among 12-major business services and rural population was direly dependent on them.
He said that there had been pressure of rich countries to open 93 sectors under GATS immediately which was in violation of the WTO which called for slow progress, amounting to forced liberalization because developing countries were reluctant to follow it.
Discussing the WTO and ministerial meeting of December in Hong Kong, Minfal’s WTO wing chief Dr Wajid Pirzado said that the WTO’s motive was to liberalize trade and gradual reduction of tariff so that subsidies could be eliminated ultimately but there were countries which were protecting growers’ interests.
He said that in forthcoming negotiations the ministerial meeting would focus on the issues which had become important for the WTO itself.
He said that Pakistan wanted to first finalize issues of agriculture sectors first before discussing other service delivers under the WTO.
He said the government was gaining policy space in the WTO in order to safeguards interests of growers. The additional secretary of the agriculture department, Dr Noorul Haq, called for uplift of the agriculture sector and improving socio-economic conditions of farmers.
He spoke of various projects under which improvement would be introduced in the agriculture sector and said that proposal of agriculture foundation was in pipeline.
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