(http://www.deccanchronicleonline.com/features/interview/default.shtml)

DECCAN CHRONICLE, Sunday November 4, 2001

'India will be bulldozed during the WTO talks'

After Union Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran threatened
to walk out of the World Trade Organisation, in view of the draft
ministerial declaration that included "new issues" for the Doha
round of negotiations, India's leading anti-globalisation activist,
Dr Vandana Shiva, said:

"Maran is now talking tough on WTO because of the 'political
orthopaedic surgery' being performed on the government by movements
like ours."

Diagnosing the Centre's strategy on WTO as a case of "severe
spinelessness", Dr Shiva says the Doha debate would only result in
the developing world being arm-twisted to sign on dotted lines
thanks to hardselling of America's Black Tuesday.

Excerpts from an interview:

What role is India going to play at the multilateral trade talks
in Doha?

India will be bulldozed during the talks and pushed into the new
round.

The trouble with this government, like all other governments, is
that it feels it's still ruling the nation on behalf of the British.
There is no transparency on the government's part to tell people
about the strategy (or the lack of it) being adopted at Doha. I do
not understand what is so secretive about how India would tackle
the pressure at the negotiating table. After all, people's mandate
counts in developing an overall strategy.

Where is WTO 2001 headed?

At Doha, the debate will be reduced to Robert Zoellick, Pascal Lamy
and the WTO secretariat arm-twisting developing economies to sign
on dotted lines by hardselling America's Black Tuesday tragedy.
The total negotiations will see the United States and the European
Union offering the usual 'carrot and stick' treatment to the
developing world. The first instance of the 'carrot phenomenon'
comes in the form of the World Bank calling for a 'new development'
round at Doha. The 'stick effect' will soon follow with the
glamorously positioned 'barrier-free trade', so that low-income
nations pay through their noses to be a part of the new trade order.

The government denies that any sympathy wave will work in the US'
interest. It says, international trade is a matter of grave concern
to all nations and no psychological trap can work. The WTO is a
platform of doublespeak, so the government is fully aware of the
impending dangers that loom large. The body is today a dictatorship
system and at this round, global terrorism will hijack key economic
issues. Why is terrorism growing? Because you shut down all options
of choice for the poor and kill an economic democracy.

The World Bank has advocated the phased implementation of
Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) by developing
nations. How does India stand to gain from this?

Trips was presented as a passport to generic drugs by the World
Bank and WTO. An immediate review of Trips is required. The picture
is much clearer now... today, the US is paranoid about Anthrax and
therefore, it wants to look for a cure in the bio-reserves of the
developing world. India stands to lose from this.

Firstly, because by putting a cap on bio-piracy, they are assuring
that you have no right over your indigenous medicines. Bio-piracy
is criminal, but for God's sake, do not glamourise it under Trips.
Secondly, your bio-safety is under serious threat and additionally
you make $20 billion in technology-related payments and also foot
the expenses for local enforcement. Today, you buy
genetically-modified
crop from a multinational and then when you realise the crop is
causing cancer in your fields, you burn them.

In the built-in review of Trips in the WTO, what have developing
nations called for?

In the built-in review of Trips in the WTO, people and governments
have been calling for reform of trips to stop bio-piracy, to exclude
the patenting of life forms, or to ensure that nations can use
measures such as compulsory licencing to ensure availability and
access to affordable medicines and seeds.

Instead of reforming Trips to protect the rights of people, the
draft decision on implementation is pushing for the implementation
of the Trips agreement. India has also been negotiating for an
enlargement of the geographical indicators, beyond wines and spirits,
to cover products like Darjeeling tea and Basmati rice. However,
the draft ministerial declaration has the predictable reference to
an agreement to 'examine' and not 'negotiate'.

As regards agriculture, how does India present its case to the
trade forum? India needs to go to WTO as the world's biggest agro
economy, not as a beggar nation. Our bottomline should be food
security, interest of small scale farmers and bringing back
quantitative restrictions on agro-imports.

What happened to India's suggestion of a food security box in the
review of the agreement on agriculture?

During the review of the agreement on agriculture, India and other
developing economies had asked for a food security box. Instead of
making a commitment in trade rules to uphold policies and measures
for food and livelihood security, the draft merely has the General
Council urging members to exercise restraint in challenging measures
notified under the green box by developing nations to promote rural
development and adequately address food security concerns. At a
time when globalisation and trade liberalisation forced by WTO and
the World Bank are pushing thousands of people to starvation and
thousands of farmers to suicide, the WTO draft texts are committed
to continue the genocide.

You are going to Doha. What's the protest build-up line?

They have not allowed protests and demonstrations yet. After WTO
failed in Seattle they moved it to Doha to shut out the noise so
it is not our place for action. We'll be there to see what happens
and act accordingly.

At Doha, we will witness whether democracy wins or loses. If
democracy wins, the call from people worldwide to assess the impact
of WTO and reform trade rules to ensure they do not violate people's
rights to food, health and livelihoods will be heeded. If democracy
fails, domestic economies and societies will disintegrate and
survival itself will be threatened. WTO rules are not just about
global trade. They determine whether millions will live or die.

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