What is the WTO?

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a global institution that promotes international trade by providing:

• a forum for negotiating global trade rules;
• tribunals for deciding international trade disputes; and
• mechanisms for enforcing global trade rules.

At the end of November 1999, the WTO attempted to launch a new round of global trade negotiations at its Ministerial meetings in Seattle. This attempt failed as a result of massive public protests, disorganization within the WTO, and opposition from developing nations. However, the "built-in" agenda of the WTO ensured that in January, 2000 new negotiations began on services and agriculture despite the failure to launch a comprehensive new round of negotiations in Seattle.

Why worry about the WTO?

The WTO promotes a very narrow definition of "free trade" that views government policies and programs designed to protect the environment, to promote Canadian jobs, and to provide a decent social safety net as "barriers" to business that must be eliminated. The WTO has been using its tremendous power to force Canada to abandon the policies and programs that have made Canada a kinder, gentler nation.

Canada's public education and health care systems are particularly at risk in the latest round of negotiations.

The WTO also undermines democracy by allowing secretive international trade tribunals to strike down policies and programs that Canadians have voted for in democratic elections. The WTO is simply the most powerful global institution ever created and it operates almost exclusively in the narrow interest of global corporations.