Established on January 1, 1995, the WTO provides a forum for implementing the multilateral trading system, negotiating new trade agreements and resolving trade disputes.  The Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization incorporates the original General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which continues to apply to issues not covered by the more specific agreements negotiated during the Uruguay Round.  It also includes specific agreements that cover many trade-related issues including: technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade-related investment measures, subsidies and countervailing measures, intellectual property rights, and agriculture.

In November 1999, in the "battle of Seattle," the World Trade Organization emerged from its discreet headquarters on the shore of Lake Geneva to become a household name across the United States and worldwide.  At the WTO Ministerial in Seattle, negotiations to launch a new round of global trade talks collapsed in the face of frustration from a range of excluded interests.  These included developing countries, many of whose poorest citizens have seen no benefit from previous liberalization, as well as environmentalists and labor groups, who flooded the streets with tens of thousands of protestors.

CIEL attended the Ministerial to push for reforms both within the US and at the WTO to ensure that trade rules incorporate the values of sustainable development.  In preparation for the Ministerial, CIEL and Greenpeace International released  Safe Trade in the 21st Century, which includes case studies on the disputes and potential disputes under the WTO.  CIEL and 12 US Environmental groups outlined reforms needed in WTO and US policies and procedures in a July 1999 letter to the US Government.  The groups argued that the US and WTO should assess the environmental impacts of trade rules, reform existing trade rules so that they avoid interfering with environmental protections, and halt expansion of the jurisdiction of the WTO so that it stays within its proper sphere of trade policy and leaves environmental regulation to the appropriate authorities.

Participating in Trade Dispute Resolution

CIEL is seeking to participate in the WTO dispute settlement system in order to ensure that international trade law and policymaking respect and do not conflict with principles of sustainable development.   With the failure of the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment to resolve key issues, the dispute resolution system has become the venue for policy development by default.  CIEL is actively pursuing NGO participation in the dispute settlement process at the WTO, most recently achieving a victory for civil society in the high profile Shrimp/Turtle Dispute by submitting precedent-setting amicus briefs to the Dispute Settlement Body. More information about the dispute and CIEL's involvement is available on the Shrimp-Turtle Page.

Public Participation

1. opening the dispute settlement and appellate body proceedings to public observation;
2. NGO participation in discussions of environment-related issues by other WTO decision-making forums, such as the SPS Committee, the TBT Committee, the TRIPS Council, the Agriculture Committee, the Committee on Trade and Environment, and relevant negotiating groups; and
3. the development of a consultative process between the WTO, NGOs, member governments and businesses.

In addition to submissions to the Dispute Settlement Body and advocacy directed toward key WTO Members, particularly the US, CIEL is promoting participation through lectures, seminars and publications such as the Handbook for Obtaining Documents from the World Trade Organization (available at http://www.ictsd.org/html/arcpubpart.htm) and A Proposed Agreement on Public Participation and Transparency Within the WTO.

Additional Materials:

• Here you can read CIEL's comments that were composed in May 2001 with other Environmental Organizations in preparation for the Doha WTO Ministerial.

• The Fourth Ministerial Conference took place in Doha, Qatar, in November, 2001. At its completion, CIEL, along with other Environmental Organizations, expressed concerns over the Multilateral Trade Negotiations and Agenda in the WTO. See the release, here:
  http://www.ciel.org/Tae/Doha_Comments_25Oct02.html.

• Background: Read the Doha WTO Ministerial 2001: Ministerial Declaration here: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min01_e/mindecl_e.htm.

• This page givesWTO information on the agenda set by the Doha Ministerial Conference: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/dda_e.htm.

• The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) operates under the authority of the (WTO) General Council. It was set up by the Doha Declaration, which in turn assigned it to create subsidiary negotiating bodies to handle individual negotiating subjects. More information follows at:
  http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/tnc_e.htm.

• Ensuring the incorporation of biodiversity in the World Trade Organisation

This page last updated on 26 April 2005