From Rob Howse:
According to the WTO website there was recently a meeting of "experts" dealing with the difficulties of trade finance in the current environment. Here is the link: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news08_e/trade_finance_12nov08_e.htm
You will note the complete absence of civil society representatives, although the for-profit private sector is represented by such giants as Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and ING.
Is the WTO back to excluding civil society on the grounds that they are not "experts"? Of course this is preposterous given the contribution that civil society organizations have made to debates about debt and development financing, which are, obviously, central to the problem of trade financing. I should add that alternative financing institutions such as microfinancing entities also seem not properly represented, as if they had no legitimate stake in this question.
Of course, it is possible -- though would be very strange -- that civil society were invited but decided en masse not to attend. So it is a little too soon to make a judgment. But at this point it looks very bad indeed for the WTO.
Rob Howse
