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12 July, 2006IG Metall calls on German government to stop pursuing the conclusion of the WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations at all costs, even at the expense of developing countries.
GERMANY: IG Metall wrote to the German minister for economics and technology last week, calling on him to take account of development concerns and the situation of workers worldwide when negotiating on the Doha Round at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Following the unsuccessful ministerial meeting of the WTO in Geneva on June 30, IG Metall is urging the German government not to pursue the conclusion at all costs, even at the expense of developing countries.
In the letter IG Metall requests the German government uses its influence to make sure that the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) proposals likely to cause serious damage to the local industries of developing countries currently being considered by the WTO are not adopted.
Instead, IG Metall argues, the WTO Doha Round must help maintain a developing country's scope for a legitimate development strategy, which is based on the domestic market and an active industrial policy. IG Metall also states that tariff reductions for developing countries should be considerably lower than those for industrialised countries.
"Successful participation in international trade requires an adequate level of successful industrialisation -- not the opposite," writes IG Metall.
A copy of IG Metall's letter is published in English, German and Spanish.
Following the unsuccessful ministerial meeting of the WTO in Geneva on June 30, IG Metall is urging the German government not to pursue the conclusion at all costs, even at the expense of developing countries.
In the letter IG Metall requests the German government uses its influence to make sure that the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) proposals likely to cause serious damage to the local industries of developing countries currently being considered by the WTO are not adopted.
Instead, IG Metall argues, the WTO Doha Round must help maintain a developing country's scope for a legitimate development strategy, which is based on the domestic market and an active industrial policy. IG Metall also states that tariff reductions for developing countries should be considerably lower than those for industrialised countries.
"Successful participation in international trade requires an adequate level of successful industrialisation -- not the opposite," writes IG Metall.
A copy of IG Metall's letter is published in English, German and Spanish.