low graphics version | feedback | help
Target poverty, Short urges WTO
Protests are already under way in Seattle |
International Development Secretary Clare Short has called for the next round of world trade talks to focus on raising investment to developing countries.
 |
|
Ms Short is also urging consumers not to boycott goods produced by children in the developing world.
Clare Short: Poor countries need investment |
"Child labour is a development problem not a trade problem. Trade sanctions against countries where child labour is prevalent would simply harm the poorest countries and force children into still worse forms of employment."
Speaking on the eve of the World Trade Organisation talks in Seattle, Ms Short said poor countries needed to attract greater flows of private investment and expand trade.
"The task for all who care about international equity and the elimination of abject poverty is to make the next trade round a 'development round'", she said.
Oxfam: Trade barriers hit poorest countries |
Trade ministers from the WTO's 134 member states will discuss the international rules governing trade at the talks on Tuesday.
Ms Short's call was echoed by the international charity Oxfam.
Justin Forsyth, Oxfam's director of policy, said winning access to rich markets was "literally a matter of life or death" for developing countries.
Mr Forsyth estimated that trade barriers cost poor countries $700bn annually, or 14 times what they received in aid.
"Rich countries promised to phase out trade barriers on textiles and clothing, for instance, and then broke that promise," he said.
They "continue to stuff subsidies worth around $350bn a year into their agriculture export industries, then ignore the crisis they cause by dumping cheap food into poor markets," he added.
Seattle, Mr Forsyth continued, "is the place to begin levelling the playing field".
|
Search BBC News Online |
|
|
 Advanced search options | |
| |
 | |
 | |
| |
 | BBC RADIO NEWS |
| |
| |
 | BBC ONE TV NEWS |
| |
| |
| WORLD NEWS SUMMARY |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 | PROGRAMMES GUIDE |
|
|
See also: |
|
 |
|
 |
28 Nov 99 | Americas |
|
Seattle braces for WTO talks |
| |
|
|
28 Nov 99 | Business |
|
UK tariffs scrapped for poorest countries |
| |
|
|
Internet links: |
|
|
|
|
|
World Trade Organisation |
| |
|
|
Department for International Development |
| |
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites |
|
Links to other UK Politics stories are at the foot of the page.
E-mail this story to a friend
~RS~a~RS~international~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~30~RS~)