Trade Union position on WTO TURIN October 2007

ITUC position on WTO Positions are prepared on all elements of the negotiations Prepared in the TILS group (Trade, Investment and Labour Standards) Historical focus on trade and labour standards Increasing importance given to trade and Decent Work, trade and employment and the development impacts of trade agreements

TILS Taskforce on Trade, Investment and Labour Standards Meetings 1-2 per year Developed and developing country trade unionists Preparation of statements, setting of priorities, areas of action NAMA main focus at the moment

General Council ITUC General Council meeting Sets overall policy framework Important that TILS conclusions and recommendations are taken up or are confirmed in the ITUC meeting GC members are not always adequately briefed on outcomes of TILS meetings

Doha Round statements Cancun Hong Kong Summary statement Hong Kong Statement post-Hong Kong Latest version adapted recently

Position on NAMA Governments should not adopt or promote a NAMA package such as that presently under negotiation, but ensure that developing countries can apply a tariff reduction that is in line with their stage of development. Governments should ensure that developing countries’ “paragraph 8” flexibilities, as currently set out in the July 2004 framework, are expanded substantially

Position on NAMA Developed countries should make unconditional offers of greater market access in Agriculture, which must not be linked with NAMA: No trade-off Sectoral negotiations should be non-mandatory. countries should be required to conduct an ex ante impact assessment, of the effects of these negotiations on development, decent work and standards of living Mark-up for binding has to be high to retain policy space Preference erosion to be addressed Paragraph 24 of HK to be respected as well as the principle of less than full reciprocity

Position on Agriculture The Agreement on Agriculture must be revised to ensure that developing countries may make use of the policy tools necessary to defend and develop national and local systems of food production, protect the rights of agricultural workers and their trade unions as well as small producers (most of whom are women), raise rural living standards and enhance food security, i.e. universal access to adequate levels of food at affordable prices Domestic agricultural subsidies must be reduced and reoriented and disciplines should avoid box-shifting Cotton subsidies have to be eliminated Developing countries should get special products and a special safeguard mechanism

Position on Services GATS negotiations should not undermine universal service obligations of governments. Access to quality services should be guaranteed Public services and services of general interest should be excluded from further GATS negotiations Governments that do make commitments must include the strongest possible limitations (i.e. explicit exemptions from GATS commitments) to protect their right to regulate

Position on Services The “positive list” approach to legally-binding GATS commitments must be maintained. No attempts for benchmarking or other minimum commitments should be made. More transparency and inclusiveness around the negotiations is a necessity offers on Mode IV must be preceded by formal trade union consultation and refer to respect for national labour law and existing collective agreements in receiving countries, as well as fundamental workers’ rights, in order to ensure that migrant workers receive employment conditions no less favourable than those of nationals.

Position on Development and Employment Determining the impact of trade liberalisation on the level and quality of employment is essential A more comprehensive set of transition and adjustment policies needs to be developed, including adequate social protection Export processing zones, where workers’ rights are significantly repressed with a particularly negative effect on women workers, constitute a distortion of trade and such production should be ruled impermissible under WTO rules.

Position on employment and development Industrial development needs to play a more crucial role in development strategies in developing country economies. This requires a clear identification of industrial production needs as well as a strategic use of tariff policies. Such instruments should not be undermined by trade liberalization.

Process issues further improvements in transparency of WTO working methods and procedures in order to enable smaller countries to participate effectively in future WTO decision-making The negotiations on S&D should not be left until the very end of the Doha Round “Aid for Trade” should provide new money and should not be provided as a trade-off for obtaining concessions from developing countries in the negotiations. Neither must it be used as a substitute for achieving adequate trade benefits for developing countries from the Doha Round.

Process issues give scope for representation of workers’ interests in the WTO, possibly through the creation of a formal consultative structure such as the trade union advisory committee (TUAC) to the OECD. the WTO should now take steps to ensure the full involvement and assistance of key UN agencies including the ILO in WTO processes and in the current negotiations establish a work programme on Trade and Employment to be overseen by a WTO committee or working group

Bilaterals Regional integration is largely preferable over “north-south” agreements FTAs should not include WTO plus issues FTAs should ensure equal distribution of benefits and protection of the interests of workers and the poor

EPAs The current framework of EPAs is based on reciprocity between unequal players This will lead to unequal results Regional integration should be ensured before market opening is provided to the EU EBA and GSP+ offers similar advantages without far reaching commitments by ACP countries.

TILS List serve Discussion list Information list Info on negotiations/reports Background information Research Trade related issues Meeting information and documents

NAMA campaign TILS meetings, gradual, need for affiliates inputs Simulations NAMA 11 trade unions Latin American unions Responses to proposals Declarations Individual research on flexibilities Press coverage Attention from negotiators (meeting with NAMA chair, Lamy, NAMA 11 ministers) General Council meeting: ITUC Resolution Model letters Analysis of negotiating text

INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION GENERAL COUNCIL Brussels, June 2007 RESOLUTION ON THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS AT THE WTO The ITUC General Council, meeting at its 2 rd Session in Brussels on June 2007 CONCERNED that the conclusion of the Doha Round on its current basis will not achieve the WTO’s objectives of increasing living standards, raising employment and achieving sustainable growth and development, but instead stand to worsen poverty and inequalities and exacerbate abuses of fundamental workers’ rights; DEPLORINGproposals on NAMA (Non-agricultural market access) in which developing countries are being pressured to accept very high tariff reductions that will lead to job losses in labour intensive industries, social disruption, pressure on wages and working conditions, and low tariff levels that stand to prevent them from developing their industries and diversifying their economies; RECOGNISING that many developing countries are being asked to make far greater concessions than developed countries, and with reductions asked for in NAMA far higher than those in agriculture; DEMANDS that developing countries not be pressured to trade off NAMA for agriculture and to make tariff reductions that will negatively affect their economies, employment and future industrial development, when they should be able to retain a sufficiently high coefficient in line with each country’s level of development; INSISTS that the paragraph 8 flexibilities in NAMA now under discussion should be expanded upon substantially, allowing both the exemption of certain tariff lines and for lower tariff cuts on other tariff lines, and for countries to be allowed to make changes in their choice of flexibilities over time based on future industrial development needs; CALLS FOR a profound ex ante analysis by the WTO and ILO of the consequences of proposed Doha Round trade liberalisation on the level of decent work, as part of a fully-fledged work programme that incorporates attention to the impact of trade on the attainment of decent work, including respect for core labour standards, and derives recommendations for national and intergovernmental action; CALLS UPON the ITUC secretariat and its affiliates, and regional trade union organisations, to increase action and lobbying on NAMA in support of developing country affiliates and the NAMA-11 trade unions, with particular attention to the time preceding a possible end of July NAMA agreement. _____________

Trade Union Action Be part of TILS network Use conference calls or virtual conferences (solicomm) Identify the key issues to work on Distribute tasks (include sectoral unions) Ensure coordination inside and outside Establish contacts with the trade ministry Establish dialogue at national level on issues of trade and employment Use Geneva office for specific requests/assistance