IBON Primer on the WTO ‘Bali Package’

The package of proposals being negotiated towards and post Bali is obviously imbalanced against developing countries. While some developed countries argue that the global trade system needs "some outcome" from Bali in order to show "progress," it is clearly not "progress" if the changes made to existing WTO agreements constitute an expansion of the failed model, rather than fundamental changes to existing unfair and asymmetric rules. If signed, the proposed deals will widen and deepen the scope of unbridled trade liberalization that has already distorted and eroded the economies of developing countries in favor of the needs of developed countries. The proposed deals will further undermine the right to development of developing countries and marginalized sectors by compelling their governments to change their laws and policies in accordance with the imperatives of wider access by foreign corporations to local markets and resources, export dumping, removal of state-owned enterprises, and privatization of social services.