Daily Press Cuttings

 

Tuesday 30th November 1999

The Guardian: World Trade/Seattle: The long-awaited week of global trade talks began amid chaos yesterday when a security scare closed the venue for the meeting in Seattle and attempts to kick-start the stalled negotiations were bogged down in disputes over labour standards and agriculture. The early signs from trade ministers were that the problems of finalising an agenda for a new round of trade talks were proving hard to crack. The US hard line on labour standards is strongly opposed by developing countries, while the EU's reluctance to slash protection for agriculture is angering farm producing countries such as Australia and Canada. Environmentalist George Monbiot comments that big business will subjugate developing nations at the world trade talks—with British help. Mozambique: Focus on Mozambique as it prepares for its presidential and parliamentary elections on Friday. Peace for everyone and prosperity for a few has come at a price. The government's economic strategy and social policies are decided by the World Bank and the IMF. It is to some a form of indirect rule. Most of Mozambique's cashew processing plants were closed after the World Bank forced the government to lift protection measures. When parliament tried to save the industry by banning the export of raw nuts for processing in India and Vietnam, the IMF insisted that the government block the law.

IHT: World Trade/developing countries: Comment from Justin Forsyth, director of policy at Oxfam International, who says that the challenge for WTO ministers in Seattle is to demonstrate the political will to set a new more equitable course for world trade that truly benefits the poor. He says that trade for many of the world's poorest people is quite literally a matter of life and death. In Bangladesh, textile exports provide income for millions of poor women, income that is used to educate their children. In Africa, trade underpins the livelihoods of smallholder farmers growing tea, coffee and cocoa. Poor countries need a rules-based global trading system. The problems emerge when the rules are rigged against the poor, and the referee is wearing the colours of the powerful. This is broadly what is happening under the WTO.

According to the UN, developing countries lose about $700 billion a year as a direct result of protectionist measures. This represents around 12 per cent of their combined GDP. Textiles will remain one of the key litmus tests for the success or failure of the Seattle talks. The test itself is simple enough. Are the industrialised countries willing to do what they should have done years ago: namely, phase out the Multi-Fibre Arrangement.

The Times: Sierra Leone/UN: A UN peacekeeping force began deploying troops in Sierra Leone yesterday amid signs that the fragile cease-fire between government and rebel forces could disintegrate at a moment's notice. A small contingent of armed Kenyan troops is expected to be the first to arrive in the battle-scarred capital, Freetown, followed by Indian and West African peacekeepers, with Nigerian troops making up the bulk of the 6000 strong United Nations-backed force.

The Independent: Environment: More than half of the world's rivers are either polluted or at risk of running dry, according to the preliminary report of the World Commission on Water, an international committee charged with finding a way to ensure the world's water supply through the next century. The committee is backed by the World Bank and UNESCO and other UN agencies. The land and water crisis in river basins contributed to the total of 25 million environmental refugees last year, which for the first time exceeded the number of war-related refugees. By 2025, the number of environmental refugees could quadruple. World Trade/UK: Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, has attacked lobby groups that want to destroy the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or disrupt its Seattle meeting, saying that they are acting against the interests of developing countries.

FT: World Trade: Franz Fischler, EU agriculture commissioner and Dan Glickman, US agriculture secretary, will make a renewed attempt today to reconcile their differences over the objective for agricultural trade liberalisation in a new WTO round. Agriculture has proved one of the biggest stumbling blocks to agreement on the agenda for the trade talks to be launched at a four-day ministerial meeting in Seattle which begins today. Nigeria: A special anti-corruption commission in Nigeria has recommended cancellation of $1 billion of contracts awarded earlier this year by the former military government. A further $4.6 billion of contracts should be renegotiated, the commission said, while about $600 million worth of spending was recommended for approval. The commission was headed by Chistopher Kolade, a respected Nigerian businessman.

 

Monday 29th November 1999

FT: World Bank: The World Bank's policies of imposing conditions on countries have failed, says its departing chief economist, Joseph Stiglitz. In today's “The Economic Journal” he says that the policy of “conditionality” is flawed and may have undermined democracy in countries receiving loans. He argues that countries should be encouraged to arrive at a national consensus to create their own strategies for development. He questions whether the market-based reform strategies followed by the World Bank over the last 20 years have been either sufficient or even necessary for economic development. “China, which is by all accounts the most successful of the low-income countries did not follow many of the key precepts of the Washington consensus”, he says. World Trade: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Seattle are bracing themselves for a tumultuous week when the global trading body begins ministerial meetings in the picturesque Pacific city tomorrow. The WTO will be trying to break the stalemate over the agenda for a proposed new round of trade liberalisation talks while putting forward a positive case for itself and the future of free trade. For its part, Seattle is hoping to strengthen its image as a rapidly growing city on the cutting edge of the global economy. The goals of both are being put at risk by thousands of anti-trade protestors—ranging from environmentalists to big US labour unions such as the Teamsters and Steelworkers—who are planning to show up. Survey on World Trade says that the system is threatened by its own success. The WTO's achievements are in danger of being overshadowed by internal strains and external attacks. Personal view by Lawrence Summers, US Treasury Secretary, argues that above all at Seattle he wants to work for a trade round that supports broader inclusion and transparency in the global trading system by making the WTO more open and accessible. He believes that its dispute resolution procedures should be opened to the public and there should be formal mechanisms for non-governmental organisations to voice their concerns. FT leader says that success in Seattle requires enlightened leadership. Bill Clinton, perhaps alone, has the skills needed to provide it. His presence there, and his efforts to clinch China's WTO entry, suggest he has a strong personal commitment to the global trade system. This week he has an exceptional opportunity to prove it—and to bequeath a lasting legacy. Russia: Hints from the IMF that it might suspend further lending in Russia because of the war in Chechnya provoked outrage in Moscow yesterday. Nigeria: Ethnic fighting in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos died down over the weekend, but fears remain that the violence could provoke further attacks elsewhere in the country. The death toll between Nigeria's largest ethnic groups, the Yoruba and the Hausa-Fulani, was close to 100.

The Independent: World Trade: Protesters of every stripe are gearing up for a showdown with the forces of capitalism in Seattle, where the world's trade ministers are arriving to set the international trade agenda for the next decade. Comment from economist Diane Coyle says “hands off the WTO”—it is the only hope that the poor have. Campaigns to make consumers feel warm by boycotting cheap sneakers from abroad are a sham. Economics: Review of Amartya Sen's new book “Development as Freedom”.

The Guardian: World Trade: Full page focus on trade and its impact on workers in both the developing and the developed world. IMF: Paul Davidson of Tennessee university looks at the call of Stanley Fischer of the IMF to turn the IMF into a permanent international lender of last resort (LOLR). Paul Davidson says that making the IMF an international lender of last resort would not be a significant improvement over the current system, where it already acts as this capacity in an ad hoc way. He says that policy makers should aim much higher at providing a crisis prevention system.

IHT: Nigeria/US: New York Times leader comments that although President Clinton has endorsed debt rescheduling for Nigeria, stretching out payments on some of Nigeria's $30 billion debt as further reforms unfold. The paper argues that debt relief should be delayed until Mr Obasanjo's strong anti-corruption legislation overcomes parliamentary resistance.