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COMMENTS / LETTERs Regarding the WTOIL
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"Your site is the best one that I have found. It is well written, global and has information that I would never
be able to find as one person on the internet. Thankyou for the work that you are doing." [July 2001]
Bob Katz, San Diego WTO Alert
| "I have been receiving your mail for a while now and I think that it is the best
and most professional news items that I receive and I cannot fathom how you do it on a daily basis..."
[August 2001]
Bob Katz, San Diego WTO Alert
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"I appreciate all the wonderful material that you are sending me. I
think that you are doing a wonderful job and the material is written in such a
professional manner. I hope that you can continue to send it out all over the
world and keep informing everyone on world trade." [October 2001]
Professor Herbert Shore, San Diego State University
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"It is unfortunate that the quality of your otherwise excellent WTO Impact
List must be diminished by shoddy introductions such as the one included in
today's mailing (see below). Why detract from the objectivity of the
reporting service you provide? In your haste to add "spice" to your daily
selection of articles, you contribute to what Susan Aaronson so adroitly
identifies in her article (included in your Impact List of last Friday: the
demagogy of the NGOs." [November 2001]
[text of reference]
"It looked like it was not going to happen. Almost two months after the 911
Attacks, the battle lines have been drawn at Qatar. The usual suspects --
free trade, market liberalisation, privatisation, and market-based
pricing -- will be invoked. Who will be the quintessential bogeyman at
Doha -- free trade or liberalisation? They say the greatest trick the devil
ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
With smooth-talking Eurocrats and their formidable trade team that would
send shivers down the spine of even Caesar's army, I very much fear he is
already at Qatar."
Patricio Grané, Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP, Washington, D.C. 20004
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Dear Mr.Grane,
The Collins English Dictionary defines a demagogue as: "a political agitator
who appeals to the prejudice and passions of the mob". Though I fully agree
with you that in my haste to add "spice", I went a bit overboard, I think it
is wholly unfair, and indeed prejudicial, on your part to qualify what I
wrote as demagogy. True, we don't always get it right -- perhaps, it comes
out of being human -- but the introductions are usually deliberately
opinionated not because it's the easier option to pursue, but because the
very essence of the WTO Impact List is predicated on one principal thing:
the need to disseminate information (as we try to do as well as possible)
about the "adverse effects of international trade". We find much more
affinity with those who say trade is increasingly becoming a zero sum
game than those who say it is a win-win one.
Finally, as an NGO worker, you're perhaps right to infer that I am appealing
to the prejudice and passions of the mob. With respect to the WTOIL, who is
"the mob" but those who subscribe to the list. We know that EU and UNCTAD
people are reading this, but so are many individuals and activists who both
agree and disagree with what we say. Finally, we are in no way political,
hence the term non-governmental organisation.
That said, I think I will just agree to disagree, but yes, your point is
very much noted. We look forward to more *constructive* criticisms in
future.
Emmanuel, ICDA Intern
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I only wish I had time to subscribe to and read some of your other lists as
well.
"It is valued and is valuable. I don't know who all reads it but I've been
subscribing since June, and am fairly well informed about the issues and
find your (almost) daily postings very helpful in finding and knowing very
specifically just how the South sees the issues and in cutting through the
media's sometimes simplistic claptrap." [November 2001]
Bob Thomson, Ottawa, Canada
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dear emmanuel,
as the trade adviser to the Socialist Group in the european parliament, I
share many of the concerns of icda regarding the environmental, development
and human rights impact of current trade rules; but unlike the commentaries
on doha carried so far by the impact list, I am convinced that doha was a
very positive step, from the development and environmental perspective at
least (not so good on democracy, transparency or human rights issues);
if icda is genuinely concerned with these issues, then presumably you are
prepared to judge doha on the facts, and at least entertain the possibility
that the doha declarations are to be welcomed; I attach my analysis for the
socialist group, which you are welcome to use in impact list (...)
I hope you'll be prepared to open up the impact list to a wider range of
views on qatar [November 2001]
derek reed, Trade Adviser to Socialist Group of EP, Brussels
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Dear Mr.Reed,
(...) we have taken your comments on board, and assure you that ICDA
*truly* is concerned about both the development and environmental aspect of
the trading system, but it does often appear that the environment is an
issue that is highly subjective depending on who you're speaking for. For
developing countries, unlike the EU that places environmental concerns at
its heart, the environment is often subordinated by other more pressing
concerns, such as agriculture, food security, and the like. That's not to
say your concerns are not taken on board, but it is to emphasize that given
the nature of ICDA, it would be unfair to merely highlight the positive
aspects -- good though they may be for especially the developed world --
that reflect the EU position. Otherwise, in my opinion, we all run the risk
of becoming complacent that fundamental problems area{sic} resolved, when we know
in our heart of hearts that to an extent they are not. Hence, yesterday's
articles that we used from India was to highlight the fact that though India
as a relatively powerful DC was able to show its clout, it still has
concerns.
Finally, I very much agree with you that perhaps the commentaries have been
too skewed to the negative effects of Doha, and it is necessary in the
interests of balance to maintain just that -- objectivity. So, we will read
your analysis with a very open mind, and also assure you, finally, that we
are all very open-minded, despite the articles in our WTOILs, and perhaps
even our own personal remarks, which, in the final analysis, though
sometimes geared to generate debate in the list (sadly, often absent) are
*personal*.
Emmanuel, ICDA Intern
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