“After a difficult Doha Ministerial Conference meeting last November, the World Trade Organization is moving forward once again with its complex and demanding agenda,” said Daniel Drache, director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies in a special double issue of CanadaWatch (Sept. 2002, Vol. 9, pages 2 and 10).
The current issue of CanadaWatch is called “From Doha to Kananasksis: The Future of the World Trading System and the Crisis of Governance”. It grew out of a conference organized by Sylvia Ostry of the Munk Centre and Drache himself, with the support of the IDRC (International Development Research Council) and DFAIT (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade).
In his editorial entitled “The dog that won’t bark”, Drache writes that “the WTO cobbled together an agreement for a new negotiating round, the result of many compromises on intellectual property, generic drugs, and market access.
“The anti-globalization movement remains unconvinced that the WTO is an effective guardian of the world trading system. Many doubt that the WTO with its stronger rules and dispute resolution is producing better outcomes,” he says.
Among the contributors to this special issue are Keith Mascus, World Bank; Michael Treibilcock and Gerry Helleiner, University of Toronto and NGOs from Friends of the Earth, Focus on Global South and the National Farmers Union. “They are sharply divided on whether the WTO will successfully conclude the Doha Development round, added Drache. “Global governance is more contested than ever. So far the WTO has not provided greater voice and collective influence for the developing countries and their peoples.
CanadaWatch is a joint publication of the Centre for Public Law and Public Policy, Osgoode Hall Law School and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, with editors-in-chief Daniel Drache and Robert Wai, Osgoode Hall Law School. To view the publication online visit the Web site:http://www.robarts.yorku.ca/pdf/cw_9_1-2.pdf. To order hard copies, contact the Robarts centre at ext. 77562.