GATS - a threat to the poor, or just a set of business rules?

Negotiations are reaching a crucial phase at the World Trade Organization on the opening up of trade in services around the world. Critics say this means poor countries will be forced to open up basic services to international business who will then seek to make profits
out of provisions such as water, health and education.

The opponents of the WTO plans say the move will undermine democracy and threaten the provision of the basics of life for the poorest people in the world.

The negotiations are ongoing under the name of GATS - the General Agreement on Trade and Services. Those in favour of the agreement say it will not threaten decisions by national governments and will simply provide a clear set of rules for business.

What do you think? Are plans under GATS a threat to basic provision for the poorest in the world, or will a new agreement simply make life easier for governments and multinational corporations alike?

To find out how to take part in the debate, see below.

Our studio guests will include:

Rolf Adlung, senior economist in the Trade in Services Division at the World Trade Organization. Previously he carried out research at the Kiel Institute for World Economics, in Germany. He says: "The
GATS provides the WTO's 140-odd members with a legally enforceable, common set of rules. These are possibly more flexible than those contained in any other WTO Agreement, including the GATS' counterpart in merchandise trade, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1947. Neither agreement affects member countries' freedom
to organize their public sector as they see fit; rather, it protects national policy decisions from international encroachment."

Erik Wesselius, part of Corporate Europe Observatory, "an independent Amsterdam-based research and campaign group targeting the threats to democracy, equity, social justice and the environment posed by the economic and political power of corporations and their lobby groups".
He says: "The GATS poses a direct threat to democracy and public services worldwide. The ongoing GATS negotations should be immediately halted. After a period of assessment and public debate on the GATS in all WTO member states, the current GATS agreement should be scrapped or shrunk to more acceptable proportions. As a minimum, water and other essential public services should be explicitly
excluded from the GATS agreement."

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The Amsterdam Forum panel discussions are normally recorded on Fridays and are always broadcast on the radio on Fridays and Saturdays, depending on where you are in the world. This is a brief summary of the broadcast times and frequencies.

<http://www.rnw.nl/amsterdamforum/assets/audio/progs.ram>

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NORTH AMERICA
Saturday
12:00 UTC on 5965 kHz
13:30 UTC on 5965 kHz
15:30 UTC on 15220 kHz
Sunday (Saturday evening in target area)
00:30 UTC on 6165 and 9845 kHz
05:00 UTC on 6165 and 9590 kHz

EUROPE
Friday
22:00 UTC on 1512 kHz mediumwave (AM)
Saturday
12:00 UTC on 6045 and 9860 kHz
22:30 UTC on 1512 kHz mediumwave (AM)

AFRICA
Saturday
19:00 UTC on 6020, 7120, 9895, 13700, 17605 and 21590 kHz

ASIA
Saturday
10:30 UTC on 9790, 12065 and 13710 kHz
15:30 UTC on 9890, 11835 and 12075 kHz

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)