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5 - Civil society and the WTO: contesting accountability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Marc Williams
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales
Jan Aart Scholte
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
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Summary

I will devote a considerable part of my time after this Conference to try to improve information and dialogue with the civil society, taking into account the point of view of all the WTO Members, and the rules which you have given to me.

(Renato Ruggiero, 1998)

I believe we have made real progress in our efforts to enhance the WTO's image and engage civil society. We are reaching out to NGOs through regular seminars and symposia … We are also seeking to encourage a greater level of engagement from business leaders, trade unions and other sectors of civil society.

(Mike Moore, 2002)

There can be no doubting the fact that we can improve in all areas of our work including … improving our links … with civil society.

(Supachai Panitchpakdi, 2005)

As the Doha Round progresses it is vital that the WTO continue to engage civil society. For me, civil society and governments are both important interlocutors.

(Pascal Lamy, 2005)

Introduction

As the quotations above indicate, every Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has made positive rhetorical gestures concerning the importance of civil society. In this respect leaders of the principal global governance agency for trade have spoken much like managers of the UN, World Bank and IMF discussed in the preceding chapters. Nevertheless, the relationship between civil society actors and the WTO has been a contentious matter since the inception of the organisation.

Type
Chapter
Information
Building Global Democracy?
Civil Society and Accountable Global Governance
, pp. 105 - 127
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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