Suaram is extremely concerned and disturbed that the whole negotiation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Malaysia and United States has been shrouded in total secrecy without public consultation. The FTA, o­nce signed, will have far reaching impacts and implications o­n the livelihood of the whole population, especially the economic, social and cultural rights of the people. Experiences in other countries who have signed FTA with the United States have showed serious negative repercussions to their economy and the population, which are reflected in drastic price increase in medicine, destruction of environment, control of economy by multi-national companies etc. It is therefore more alarming when the government that is supposed to represent the people, denied its people the fundamental right to information o­n the FTA and went into negotiation with the United States without first consulting the public.

The July 2006 collapse of the (multilateral) Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations was hailed as a victory in the fight against corporate-led globalization. Yet, Washington's sustained focus o­n bilateral free trade regimes is equally, if not more, damaging than WTO policies. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have bankrupted farmers, resulted in the loss of millions of jobs, made life-saving medicines unaffordable for people in poor countries, and lowered health, safety and environmental standards. Ultimately, the bilateral free trade agreements made by our governments aggregate even more power in the hands of already powerful and destructive transnational corporations. FTAs are inevitably accompanied by serious declines in the welfare of citizens.

The Karmojibi Nari, a Dhaka-based non-government organisation, expressed apprehension that the upcoming mini ministerial of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva would sideline the interests of the least developed countries.

The organisation also said that draft texts to determine modalities o­n farm subsidies and industrial tariff reduction, released o­n June 22, ignored some critical demands of the LDCs.

In a media briefing o­n Sunday, the organisation said that six global trading players known as G6�the United States, the European Union, India, Brazil, Australia and Japan�are leading the whole programme which would ultimately overlook the interest of the other member countries of the WTO.

The chairperson of the Karmojibi Nari, Shirin Akhter, spoke in the briefing while director Ziaul Haq Mukta read out written statement.

Karmojibi Nari was of the view that the proposal of the LDC group o­n modalities for non-agricultural market access (NAMA) is ignored in the daft text.

STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN

At the 6th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization last December 2005, the big trading superpowers were able to pull out a deal at the last minute, which, if fully implemented, will be severely detrimental to the majority of the world's peoples. The deal in Hong Kong has given the multilateral institution new momentum and if unchallenged, the WTO will be able to conclude the so-called Doha "Development" Round by the end of 2006. And the next major opportunities for us to affect these negotiations are at the coming talks to finalize the modalities o­n Agriculture and Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) in the last week of April and at the next General Council Meeting in Geneva o­n May 2006.