by John W. Foster, Editor

The 5th Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancun Mexico, September, 2003 marks a mid-point in the new round of negotiations of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS):

A good time to take stock.

Services: almost everything we depend on

Not long after the GATS was agreed, the then-head of the WTO, Renato Ruggiero, declared that the agreement and its obligations “extend the reach of the Agreement into areas never before recognized as trade policy. I suspect that neither governments nor industries have yet appreciated the full scope of these guarantees or the full value of existing commitments.”
Because of this reach into domestic jurisdiction, because GATS includes families of services that involve virtually every utility, and most aspects of daily life – health, education, transportation, financial services, libraries, food, recreation – and because it incorporates a principle of “progressive liberalization”, i.e. greater openness to foreign investment and control, it collides with the exercise of democratic policy-making by citizens. Because it is so sweeping, it also collides with the security and futures of people working in many different sectors of society and dependent on many different services, public as well as private.

Take stock

People may find their citizenship radically undermined by these negotiations. As some commentators have put it, time to get off the fast-moving bicycle of trade talks, and look around. When you do, you “are likely to react with shocked disapproval at how far, and in what direction, the proverbial bicycle has been driven.”

Consider these questions:

• Has my government’s negotiation position in the GATS been made public and can I have access to it?
• Has there been any research on the impact and implications of the GATS on issues I’m interested in and can I have access to it? If not, is it possible to get support for such research? How can I inform myself?
• Is my governmental/parliamentary representative aware of the negotiations, possible impacts and public concerns? What can I do, and with whom can I act, to make them aware?
• Has my government/parliament or the media been subject to pressure from foreign governments or corporations regarding the negotiations? What can I or others do to counter that pressure?
• Has my government/parliament considered alternatives to the GATS proposals generally or in specific sectors?
• Will there be sufficient time and information for thorough public debate and will my government/ parliament consult fully with all those who may be affected before any agreement is ratified by my country?

And before any of these, perhaps ask a prior question, do I care who makes decisions about the services I, my family, friends or community depend on each day?

1 From an address made to the Conference on Trade in Services, Brussels, 2 June, 1998, as quoted in Scott Sinclair and Jim Greishaber-Otto, Facing the Facts: A guide to the GATS debate., Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ottawa, 2002 www.policyalternatives.ca

2 Ibid. xiv