MEDIA ADVISORY for: Contact: Deborah James, +12024416917, djames@cepr.net
December 10, 2017 Melinda St. Louis, +12024417579, mstlouis@citizen.org
***PRESS CONFERENCE***
Global Civil Society Voices Share What’s at Stake at MC11
Over 80 civil society experts – trade unionists, farmers, development advocates, and consumer activists – from more than 30 countries have traveled to Buenos Aires for the 11th Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as part of the global Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS) network. In the face of the unprecedented and outrageous decision of the Argentine government to revoke the accreditation of more than 60 already registered civil society participants without cause, OWINFS members and allies will hold a press conference on the opening day of the Ministerial to send a clear message that civil society voices will not be silenced.
Speakers, representing the breadth of the expertise across regions, will discuss the key issues at stake for civil society around the globe at MC11, including the need to address WTO barriers to food security and sustainable development; to produce an outcome on fishery subsidies that effectively disciplines the damaging fishery subsidies of developed countries while ensuring that small-scale and artisanal fisherfolk can be supported; and to ensure that any future WTO agreements address asymetries and imbalances in the existing WTO rules, particularly regarding agriculture and Special and Differential Treatment (SDT). Experts will also discuss the dangers of WTO members agreeing to work programs on e-commerce/digital trade; domestic regulation; investment facilitation; micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and other “new issues” that will serve to sideline the longstanding demands of developing countries while pushing the corporate interests of developed countries.
Civil society delegates will be participating in OWINFS activities from: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pacific Islands, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
WHAT: Press conference with civil society experts from various WTO member states
WHEN: Sunday, 10 December, 10:30 am
WHERE: Room 402, NGO Centre, CCK Cultural Centre, Sarmiento 151, Buenos Aires
WHO: Sachin Kumar Jain, Right to Food Campaign, India
Marita Gonzalez, Argentinian General Confederation of Workers, Argentina
Adam Wolfendon, Pacific Network on Globalisation, Pacific Islands
Sylvester Bagooro, Third World Network-Africa, Ghana
Beatriz Busaniche,Vía Libre, Argentina
Maruf Barkat, COAST Trust, Bangladesh
Legborsi Nwiabu, National Association of Nigerian Traders, Nigeria
Isolda Agazzi, Alliance Sud, Switzerland
Moderated by Deborah James, OWINFS, USA