The news conference in Seattle coincided with the national release of a critique of the WTO's record on global free-trade issues. The 229-page critique, by Ralph Nader's Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, contends that trade policy over the past five years has ushered in an assault on environmental standards, food safety and public health. But Diane Sullivan, director of trade policy for the National Association of Manufacturers, said the Public Citizen publication was nothing but a rehash of the group's past attacks and ignores the gains the global economy has reaped from freer trade.
International commerce improves living standards for all.
WTO policy is geared toward corporations, not the small-scale family fishermen, the group said. The activists also urged consumers to eat only wild-caught shrimp and fish instead of farmed seafood, which they contend pose environmental hazards. Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.