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REPORTS: LATIN AMERICA |
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Tuesday 23
September 2003
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Consumer
Groups Applaud Emergence of G22 Bloc
Gustavo
González
SANTIAGO, (IPS) - Consumer
organisations in Latin America
welcomed the creation of the Group of
22 (G22) developing nations, which
vigorously defended the interests of
poor countries at the WTO ministerial
conference this month in Mexico.
The emergence of the G22 opens ''a new
era in global trade negotiations,''
stated a communique issued by
Consumers International, the global
federation of more than 250 consumer
organisations in 115 countries.
The G22 ''paves the way for the
creation of other blocs of developing
countries, to strengthen their
bargaining power vis-a-vis the
industrialized North,'' Leo Stutman,
an economist and technical consultant
to the Brazilian Institute of Consumer
Defence (IDEC), told IPS.
Latin America's incipient consumers'
movement has been worriedly observing
the effects of the unfettered freeing
up of trade, as indicated by a survey
carried out in 16 countries in the
region, the results of which were
released by the Latin American
regional office of Consumers
International, in Santiago.
Consumer organisations tend to align
themselves with the positions taken by
the G22 group of developing countries
that is demanding that the United
States, the European Union and Japan
make good on their promises to
eliminate farm subsidies before the
talks move on to other points of the
multilateral agenda agreed at the
fourth ministerial meeting in Doha,
Qatar in 2001.
In the fifth World Trade Organisation
(WTO) ministerial gathering, held Sep.
10-14 in the Mexican resort of Cancun,
the industrialized North insisted on
subordinating the question of
agriculture to advances on the
so-called ''Singapore issues''
--investment, competition,
transparency in government procurement
and trade facilitation.
The London-based Consumers
International loudly applauded the
fact that ''For the first time in the
WTO, a large group of developing
countries united behind a demand for
trade policies that advance their
development needs.
''Their firmness creates the potential
for advancing the interests of
consumers in developed and developing
countries and will help shape future
negotiations.''
Marcela Ortiz, communications officer
in the regional Latin American office
of Consumers International, noted that
prior to the meeting in Cancun, her
organisation had already warned of the
standoff between the developing and
industrialized nations.
Until the impact on consumers of the
WTO agreements (on agriculture,
services and intellectual property)
are evaluated, new issues should not
be discussed, as the industrialized
countries are insisting, Consumers
International said on the eve of the
ministerial conference.
What occurred in Cancun was, ''on the
balance, positive, because consumer
rights were not undermined, and we did
not have to yield on other points
either,'' said Stutman, who was among
the activists from around the world
who flew to Cancun during the
ministerial meeting.
Brazil's IDEC had feared a compromise
in Cancun, in which the countries of
the North would yield to developing
nations' demands regarding agriculture
in exchange for concessions on the
''new issues'' contained in the
Singapore agenda and for greater
openness of the developing world to
investment in public services.
That would have reduced the power of
governments to regulate essential
services like water, electricity,
telecommunications, education and
health, which in Brazil are protected
by the Consumer Defence Code, one of
the most advanced in the world, said
Stutman.
''On the other hand, we lament the
failure of the talks on agriculture,
because the elimination of subsidies
and barriers in rich countries is in
the interests of consumers. The
failure to obtain an agreement limits
our chances of economic growth and the
generation of jobs,'' he said.
The president of the Mexican
Association for Consumer Defence,
Arturo Lomelín, commented to IPS that
''the failure in Cancun will have an
impact on consumers because important
agricultural trade issues were left
pending.''
Lomelín said there was an urgent need
to regulate trade in transgenic corn.
He noted that imports of GM corn from
the United States skyrocketed from
just over 152,000 tons in 1993 to six
million tons in 2002.
The situation, he underlined, is
jeopardising Mexico's native species
of corn, and the country's ''food
sovereignty'' -- the right of
countries to make decisions about all
aspects of food production.
''The sad thing, above and beyond
Cancun, is that in Mexico, consumers
have little awareness when it comes to
buying food, which means there is no
effective social demand that would
increase the pressure for a resolution
of the problems of international
trade,'' said Lomelín.
The WTO conference also failed to hold
in-depth discussions on the question
of piracy and the sale of falsified
brand-name products or illegally
produced goods, he added.
''Some progress has been made in
discussions on intellectual property,
but the issue of piracy has not been
given the importance it deserves. It
should be the object of a vigorous
global crackdown,'' he said.
In Mexico, six out of 10 software
programmes sold are pirate copies, as
are seven out of 10 music compact
discs, six out of 10 videos, and three
out of 10 bottles of perfume,
according to the Mexican Institute of
Intellectual Property.
* Mario Osava in Brazil and Diego
Cevallos in Mexico contributed to this
report.
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