The future of the global trading system hangs in the balance. On the eve of the new millennium and the launch of a new round of trade talks, the WTO must choose whether it is to enter the new century as a full member of the international community or remain on its fringes as a powerful but distant organization wedded solely to the ideology of free trade. It must choose whether international trade rules will actively promote a fairer, more sustainable world for us, our children and grandchildren. Or whether market forces and the interests of big business will decide the fate of millions. The WTO has so far refused to acknowledge its human rights obligations under international law or examine the human rights dimensions of international trade policy.
Human rights are our birth-right.
This has been established by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which constitutes the first international expression of human rights and fundamental freedoms. As customary international law it is binding on all states. Human rights are universal, indivisible, integrated and interrelated - they include civil, cultural, economic, social and political rights. The first and foremost responsibility of governments is the promotion and protection of human rights. All these declarations have been accepted as binding commitments by governments at various world conferences and reaffirmed in the Vienna Declaration of the 1993 UN World Congress on Human Rights.