World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999
The WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 was a meeting of the World Trade Organization, convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, over the course of three days, beginning November 30, 1999. A week before the meeting, delegates admitted failure to agree on the agenda and the presence of deep disagreements with developing countries.[1] Intended as the launch of a new round of trade negotiations that would have been called "The Millennium Round", the negotiations were marred by poor organization and controversial management of large street protests.[2] Developing country representatives became resentful and uncooperative on being excluded from talks as the United States and the European Union attempted to cement a mutual deal on agriculture. The negotiations collapsed and were reconvened at Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. The Doha venue enabled on-site public protest to be excluded. Necessary agenda concessions were made to include the interests of developing countries, which were learning how to form their own powerful negotiating blocs. Thus, the current round is called the Doha Development Round.
Anti-globalization activists made headlines around the world in 1999, when they forced the Seattle WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 to end early with direct action tactics.
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Cultural References [edit]
- Actor/Director Stuart Townsend released a film about the protests surrounding the conference in 2007 entitled Battle in Seattle.
- The Seattle-based hip-hop duo Blue Scholars released the song 50 Thousand Deep about their first-hand experience of the protests on their 2007 album Bayani
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Notes [edit]
- ^ "Pascal Lamy, EU trade commissioner, said yesterday there was a serious risk that the meeting would be unable to launch a world trade round. However, Mike Moore, WTO director-general, said he was still confident that next week's talks would not fail. Weeks of negotiations in the WTO have been unable to bridge deep disagreements, particularly over agriculture and developing countries' concerns about their WTO obligations." —David Wighton World leaders resist joining Seattle talks, Financial Times, 24 Nov 1999
- ^ Elliott, Larry (4 December 1999). "''Week of division on and off streets''–London Guardian, 4/12/1999". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 13 July 2009.
External links [edit]
- Seattle Selected to Host WTO, Washington Council on International Trade, 25 January 1999.
- Seattle Aftermath, Online NewsHour, 18 January 2000.
- Seattle Weekly Editors Answering WTO's big questions, Seattle Weekly, 2 August 2000.
