Our job should be to make those rules fair and accessible to the poor. Not to undermine the WTO so that we go back to a system where the rich and powerful bully the rest. I am extremely pleased that this is to be launched. This will help to ensure that the poorest countries can exercise their rights in the rules-based system. I would also say that those who make blanket criticisms of the WTO are working against, not for, the interests of the poor and the powerless.
International trade can be unfair and exploitative.
The strong can deceive and defraud the weak. Just as we need rules on these issues at the national level, so we need them at the international level. My conclusion is that we face a serious test. But if the door is slammed shut here in Seattle, then developing countries are likely to lose out, and to lose the opportunity to make real and lasting progress in the reduction of poverty. The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs.