ICDA DOSSIER

“It's so very easy for most of us to talk about the legacy of colonialism,
the problematics of decline in commodity prices, plus the fantastic flight
of capital by multinationals from one country to the next, and then go back
to our armchairs -- satisfied that we've made our voices heard. It comes a
point, however, when you realise that no amount of sententious talk, or
bombastic theorizing, will do anything if people do not take constructive
action accordingly. That is why, perhaps, the final article is so poignant
in its opening -- admonishing us: "If you are thinking 100 years ahead,
rnake people aware". Is that the essence of these Impact Lists -- to raise
awareness? Sometimes, as Amnesty International so aptly reminds us: "better
to light a candle in the dark than to sit and curse at the darkness". It
would probably be a stretch too far to claim that our equivalent is these
Impact Lists, but sometimes you arrive at a point when you feel you've
pretty much re-hashed the same arguments -- over and again -- and,
inevitably, you sometimes sense the quiet drip-drip of complacency. It is
necessary at that point to disturb that complacency, and today -- as we have
done so many times throughout these lists -- we hope we are able to do that.

Again, I point to articles 3 and 4 as the articles to raise, hopefully, that
awareness that international trade simply will not work for the developing
world if the developed world does not make the effort to look at the
structural imbalances in the multilateral trading system, encompassing:
debt, SAPs, and the plight of LDCs that are so fundamental to alleviating
600 million people from -- or at least mitigating -- the poverty that has
for *far too long* been their swan-song.”

 

ICDA WTO Impact List: Monday 3 December 2001:[UNLDC3]: The Curse of
Commodities, Capital, and...Colonialism?; TRIPs--Development Averse;
Agriculture, Food Security & the Multinational

 

 

 

 

Understanding how the Secretariat works

&

Managing List-serves

&

Attending meetings

 

 

Home phone# up to late July 2004:

 +32-2-687.65.38

 

MOBILE: 0477.595.576

 

Phone # from 2 August 2004 onwards:

Third World Network--Africa—Communications Unit-- (+233).21.511.189 (GHANA)

 

By © E.K.Bensah II

 

May—June 2004

 

 

1.    Working at ICDA

a.   ICDA Subscribes to…

2.    ICDA Members

a.   Road to Cancun Newsletter

b.   Accessing Yahoogroups online

3.    The WTO Impact List (WTOIL)

a.   Subscribing

b.   Unsubscribing

c.    SOD Reports

d.   NGO WTO Impact List (NGO WTOIL)

4.    Publications

a.   ICDA Update

5.    NGO Networks

a.   ETN

                                                            i.      Registering for DG Trade mtgs

b.   WTO Reference Group

c.    IGTN

d.   IWGGT

6.    Office stuff

a.   Answering calls (phone)

b.   Prospective Interns

c.    Computer (problems):

                                                            i.      What to know for uploading pages for ICDA Website

                                                         ii.      What to do with a virus

                                                      iii.      Clearing space for memory (erasing temp files)

                                                      iv.      Email not working?

1.   who you gonna call?

7.    FUNDING (fund-raising) projects

a.   NOVIB (WTOIL)

b.   HIVOS (gender)

c.    GTZ [German technical organisation] for WTOIL/UNCTAD

d.   11.11.11 (ICDA AC report)

8.    BILLS to Urgently see to

9.    Important phone numbers to know

INDEX

 

1. Working at ICDA

The exposure you get at ICDA is unprecedented. No other experience, as far as I know, in Brussels at an NGO prepares you for such versatility as this internship. What this means, in English, is that although there is often a lot of multi-tasking to be done, and indeed a lot of work to do other than the famed WTO Impact List, it is immensely satisfying once you have been able to acquit yourself of all those daily tasks as well as those below. In the summer, especially, ICDA can be a pretty quiet place to work because in August, the place is emptied of all – certainly most – of the denizens who go off on holiday whilst the Eurocrats are also away, and hence not spending in the Schuman area. So, if you’re an intern working in the summer, please be patient, as the fruits of your labour will pay off seriously in September when things fly—literally—as you’re sent off from one meeting to the next.

 

Before I begin with the tasks, I’d like to first welcome you to ICDA: welcome! Take a look around the office. Yes, plenty of files, books; NGO stuff. Embrace the daunting aura. Three months from now, you would be asking for more knowledge from these same books. Take a sniff. It’s not the cooks at the Greek restaurant just across the street cooking, but the air of mystery surrounding the acronyms—WTO; IMF; WB; CAP; SDT; GATS; TRIPs; EBA; UNCTAD, and whatnot. Embrace it. Look through the last ICDA Updates, maybe the 2000 ICDA Journal. Allow the information to go over your head. Come back after a few days. Read old WTO Impact Lists that are filed and sitting comfortably on the fireplace. These will be your friends for your time at ICDA. Remember, this WILL be your office. Make use of the material to the max, and don’t be afraid to stay up late reading some old material to better familiarise yourself with the material. Again: WELCOME!

a.   ICDA Subscribes to…

2 JUNE 2004 UPDATE:

·        EU-Trade discussion list (for CONCORD’s Trade Working Group/former WTO Reference Group : eu-trade@discussion.antenna.nl

·        COTONOU Trade discussion list (cotonoutrade@yahoogroups.com)

·        Cotonou Monitoring Group (eml is cmg something @euphoric.org)

·        ETN list-serv

·        PRS-Watch (maintained by EURODAD)—they work on debt and development

·        PANNA (Pesticide Action Network, USA)

·        World Bank Boycott (maintained by NL-based non-profit org, ASEED)

·        Bankboycott@yahoogroups.com (maintained by Center for Economic Policy & Research (CEPR) in USA)

o       UNOFFICIAL ones:

§         StopWTORound@yahoogroups.com

§         Award-winning SCOOP (NZ-based news service—frankly, it’s a breath of fresh air, and they’re very prolific and eclectic in their choice of news) Check: http://www.icda.be/wtomc4/ for more on SCOOP. Very Left-of-centre.

§         Japan News (useful for reg-trade/WTO news)

§         GATSCrit (gatswatch@yahoogroups.com) Managed by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)(corporateeurope.org), free list-serv for disseminating news on WTO’s general agreement on trade in services (GATS).

o       Corporate Watch (Holding Corporations Accountable)

§         CEO Observer (maintained by CEO)

========^===========================================================

----- Original Message -----

From: <mritchie@iatp.org>

To: <ekbensah@gemini-translation.com>

Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 1:56 AM

Subject: [wto-info] FW: [wto_forum] Digest Number 500

 

> WTO Info <wto-info@iatp.org> -- posted by mritchie@iatp.org
> ============================================================
>
> Message: 1
>    Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 15:19:46 +0200
>    From: "WTO Forum" <wto_forum@hotmail.com>
> Subject: WTO Newsbrief
>
> Dear Trade Enthusiasts,
>
> Here's the WTO news for the week
>
> General
>
>
>
> Trade ministers to revive talks.  Ministers of 21 Asia Pacific economies,
> controlling nearly half of world trade, are to meet in Chile under pressure
> from business groups in the region to jumpstart stalled global trade talks.
> Facing a self-imposed July deadline, the trade ministers from industrialized
> and developing economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
> forum may achieve agreement on some key issues that could salvage the Doha
> round of trade talks, officials said.  Ricardo Lagos, a senior government
> official from Chile, said there were high expectations for the June 4-5 APEC
> ministerial meeting to follow up on "good progress" made at recent Paris
> talks among 28 key WTO members.
>
>
>
> G20 trade alliance puts tariff cut onus on rich.  The G20 alliance of
> developing countries have unveiled an alternative plan to ease a deadlock in
> world farm trade talks which puts most of the onus on rich states in the
> sensitive area of tariff cuts.  The group, which is led by Brazil, India and
> South Africa, has rejected a joint EU-US blueprint on tariff barriers as
> being too soft on rich countries and too hard on the poor.  "We consider
> this position a positive contribution to the negotiations," said Brazil's
> ambassador to the WTO, Luiz Felipe Seixas Correa, who acted as spokesman for
> the group.
>
>
>
> Europe
>
>
>
> Round of Russia's WTO accession talks over.  Russia concluded a number of
> negotiations regarding the country's accession to the WTO, Economy Minister
> German Gref announced. The latest round of talks included Oman and Georgia.
> On May 31 Russia and Oman signed protocols on the conditions of access of
> Oman's products to the Russian market.  Specifically, the protocol provides
> for imposing import duties on goods imported from Oman.  German Gref said
> that WTO talks with Georgia have been concluded and that this marks the end
> of a whole round of negotiations that were conducted with those members of
> Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) who already hold WTO membership.
> "All disagreements [with CIS states] have been solved," said the Economy
> Minister.
>
>
>
> Asia
>
>
>
> Anti-dumping regulation amended again.  The amendment to China's
> anti-dumping regulation will take effect two years after the regulation was
> first amended in line with WTO rules.  The country amended the regulation in
> accordance with its Foreign Trade Law, said sources with the Ministry of
> Commerce.  The amendment has a new item that anti-dumping tariff imposed
> upon certain imports should be in the interest of the public.  In the past
> two years since China became a WTO member, the Ministry of Commerce has
> started investigations on 18 anti-dumping appeals mainly concerning chemical
> fibers, steel, paper making and optical fibers.
>
>
>
> India losing out to Australia in wheat market.  The Indian government has
> ruled out any grain exports or subsidies to traders in the current season
> before assessing the performance of the monsoon. India is unlikely to
> compete in tenders to be floated in the next few weeks in Bahrain, Qatar,
> Oman and East Africa.  "In the last 10 days we have been outbid in two
> tenders of 50,000 tonnes each floated in west Asia for import of wheat.  The
> government must give concessions for export of at least 5-10 lakh tonnes to
> ensure our presence in the market," D P Singh Chairman of the All India
> Grain Exporters Association announced.
>
>
>
> China backs Iran's WTO entry.  Chinese Ambassador to Iran Lio G. Tan says
> his country is in favor of Iran's accession to the WTO. "We hope that the
> Islamic Republic of Iran will join the World Trade Organization in the near
> future," he said.  He added that "administrative red tape" and the American
> "obstructionism" hindered Iran's efforts to enter the international body.
> "All these problems can be resolved with talks and the People's Democratic
> Republic of China is ready to offer its experiences to Iran," the envoy
> said. Tan gave a positive assessment of political and economic relations
> between Iran and China but called for further economic cooperation.
>
>
>
> Malaysia cracks down on software piracy.  Malaysia launched a nationwide
> crackdown on companies using illegal or unlicensed software amid fears
> growing piracy could lead the country to be blacklisted by the WTO.
> Businesses have one week to stop using pirated software after which
> enforcement officers, working closely with watchdog Business Software
> Alliance, will begin raiding offices, said Zainal Abidin Mohamad Noordin,
> deputy director-general of the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry.
>
>
>
> Japan may adopt more flexible farm tariff policy.   Japan will probably
> adopt a more flexible stand on farm produce tariffs in the next World Trade
> Organization talks in exchange for concessions on certain products,
> especially rice, government sources said.  Japan has previously insisted on
> product-specific tariffs only. The breakdown in WTO talks in September over
> the tariff issue has prompted farm and trade officials to shift strategies.
> The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Central Union of Agricultural
> Co-operatives, a farm lobby group, will receive the new policy proposal
> shortly.  Japan has a tariff of as much as 500 percent on rice imports,
> effectively barring large-scale shipments from abroad.
>
>
>
> Africa
>
>
>
> WTO calls for African ministers' input.  WTO director-general Supachai
> Panitchpakdi has urged African ministers of trade to play a meaningful role
> in the development of a package in preparation for the body's general
> council in July.  Addressing a conference of African Union ministers of
> trade last week, Panitchpakdi said their input could determine whether the
> WTO made progress in its Doha development agenda or "whether it would be
> consigned to the back-burner for the rest of this year and probably much of
> next year as well".
>
>
>
> Angola seeks WTO trade policy assistance.  Angola needs technical assistance
> from the WTO for the elaboration of a new trade policy, that tackles general
> matters of the public and private sector at commercial level, an official
> source within the Ministry of Commerce said.  "We will have to confirm our
> internal legislation in the ambit of the liberalization of commerce with the
> international organisations, in a way that our country does not have a
> legislation that contradicts the WTO priciples", the source added.
>
>
>
> North America
>
>
>
> Florida orange juice tax dispute ends.  Brazil agreed to withdraw a
> 2-year-old complaint at the WTO against a Florida state levy on Brazilian
> orange juice imports, putting an end to a longstanding trade spat between
> Brazil and the US, the world's top two citrus producers.  In a joint letter
> to the WTO, the two countries said that they had negotiated a "mutually
> satisfactory solution" to the dispute, in which Brazil had challenged a $40
> tax levied by Florida on each metric ton of imported Brazilian orange juice.
> Brazil filed its claim at the international trade body in August 2002.
> Growers in Florida have long argued that the tariffs were needed because
> Brazilian producers do not have to meet health and safety standards as
> demanding as those in the US, making juice production cheaper in Brazil. The
> money from the so-called equalizing excise tax was used to finance
> advertising campaigns promoting Florida orange juice.
>
>
>
> U.S. signs Central American trade pact.  The US signed a trade deal with
> five Central American nations, but the pact is unlikely to be approved by
> Congress before the November presidential election.  "Today is just the
> beginning of the most critical chapter for CAFTA. In both the United States
> and Central America, we must now turn our attention to winning approval of
> the agreement from our respective legislatures," U.S. Trade Representative
> Robert Zoellick said.  The Bush administration faces an uphill battle in
> Congress, as a number of Democrats on Capitol Hill say the provisions do not
> sufficiently protect U.S. workers from what they say is unfair competition
> from the lower paid workers of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras
> and Nicaragua.  CAFTA would immediately eliminate tariffs on more than 80
> percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products, phasing out the
> rest over 10 years. Tariffs would be eliminated on 50 percent of farm goods,
> and tariffs on some additional farm goods, except sugar, would be eliminated
> over time.
>
>
>
> US: Asian groups support quotas.  Asian textile and apparel companies have
> joined their North American, South American, European and African
> counterparts in backing an emergency meeting of the WTO to delay the phasing
> out of quotas in 2005.  An additional 25 industry trade associations
> representing 16 different countries have formally endorsed the Istanbul
> Declaration, bringing the number of groups backing the measure to 71.
> Pledges of support from the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, Bangladesh
> Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association, The Federation of Bangladesh
> Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Confederation of Garment
> Exporters of the Philippines were among the new endorsees.
>
>
>
> US calls for cuts on farm trade barriers.  The US urged Brazil , Australia
> and other major farm exporters to come up with an ambitious plan to slash
> farm trade barriers, but warned of possible resistance in the EU and Japan.
> US trade representative Robert Zoellick said the US looked forward to seeing
> proposals soon from the Cairns Group of agricultural exporters and the G20
> group of developing nations for reducing farm tariffs and import barriers.
> "We're pretty comfortable as long as it's ambitious because we're ambitious
> in our own market access (demands). Of course, we'll have to work the
> sensitivities of the EU and Japan in the process," Zoellick said.
>
>
>
> South America
>
>
>
> Argentina seeks further EU concessions on trade deal.  Argentina wants the
> EU to make more concessions to the four-nation Mercosur trading bloc in
> order to create a free-trade area spanning South America and Europe,
> Argentina's Agriculture Minister Miguel Campos said.  An offer put on the
> table by Brussels last Friday was "a starting point, a minimum, which must
> be improved," the minister admitted.  "The positive thing is that the
> European Union is sending Mercosur a signal that there is leeway for better
> access to our exports," the minister added.  The Argentine minister said it
> was likely that the two sides would use the EU-Latin America summit in
> Guadalajara, Mexico to reaffirm a target date of October for an agreement on
> agriculture.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> The Trade Team
>
>
> [This message contained attachments]
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
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>
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>
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>
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·        OTHER EMAILS EKB SUBSCRIBED TO:

o       Bruderhof communities (daily inspiration abt life)

o       Cyber nation (inspirational quotes)

o       Word of the day

o       Doctor dictionary

o       UN News Service (excellent short news items from UN in New York, delivered usually at 4pm CET); helps very much in informing, and providing mental pabulum (food for thought) for the WTOILs. (http://www.un.org/news )

o       UN Wire (independent of the UN, but also an excellent service—check: http://www.unwire.org )

o       SBS World News Online (global news delivered in brief from Australia—very good!)

 

 

3.       ICDA Members

ICDA has circa 40 members. Some of these are active; many are passive, such as Belgium’s 11.11.11, or France’s CRID. It is important for us to keep the heat on these as much as possible. Two things to bear in mind is that a) ICDA is a small NGO. This means that it often – rightly or wrongly – organisations (bigger ones) tend to pooh-pooh its effectiveness. Interns can only counter this by producing excellent Impact Lists, and occasionally good analyses of current development debates, etc.. Secondly, ICDA has approached membership – whether payment of fees, etc – duties in the past in a wrong-footed manner, which has resulted in members losing interest in its work except using occasionally the Impact List. Also, the irregularity of the time period of the interns has not afforded interns to become accustomed to some of the whims and caprices of the NGO members. The ICDA Secretariat needs to get organised in terms of sending out regular, well-informed, and constructive updates of news, reports, etc… + membership fee payments that are often the source of discussion.

14 July update: the information above holds in July 2003—with one small exception: CUTS (Indian-based NGO has been a member of ICDA since August 2002. ICDA continues to maintain relatively good ties (financial-wise) with the following NGOs:

·        Banana Link (payment pending)

·        EFTA

·        Germanwatch

·        BUKO Agrar

·        CUTS

·        Action Aid

·        Swiss Coalition

·        ASTM (Luxembourg)

·        11.11.11

·        Action Aid

31 May 2004 Update:  

First up, AWID (http://www.awid.org) has exchanged memberships with ICDA—thanks to Janice. This means that we receive a lot of very useful gender-related information that puts ICDA at a comparative advantage over other Brussels-based NGOs. Furthermore, at the time of writing, a considerable number of members have already paid what they owe ICDA. All of the above—save EFTA; Germanwatch—have paid for 2004. The following orgs have also paid:

n      Greenpeace Germany (Juergen Knirsch is the contact person)

n      …

a.   Road to Cancun Newsletter

The Road to Cancun newsletter was mooted, as it were, at the beginning of this year (2003) after a tele-conference call with Janice, Jennifer, and myself. The idea came about as a way of following up on ICDA’s Annual Conference of 15-16 November wherein we tried to co-ordinate civil society in the run-up towards Cancun by trying to look at what ICDA described as so-called “Development Deficits”. For a cursory look at these, please visit the Annual Conference page on ICDA’s website here: http://www.icda.be/annual-conference/index.html . At the time of writing, the report is finished, but due to pending funds, has yet to go to production.

 

Please find below the introductions/layouts to the last 3 Road to Cancun Newsletter. It is sent out the first Friday of every month. So please note that the next one should come out on 1 August. This edition ought to be especially important, as it will be the last but one Road to Cancun Newsletter that members will receive before they jet off to Cancun, Mexico for the September meeting. What this means for interns is that they must ensure that they impress upon members to send upcoming events, etc so that it can be included in the penultimate newsletter before Cancun. The very last one will be on 5 September—just a few days before the Fifth WTO Ministerial.

 

The Production of the newsletter is very much like the WTO Impact List. So please take a look at these older ones, read and try to formulate. It is relatively simple to compile and write-up, albeit time-consuming—but definitely worth it for ICDA Members!

 

 

20 May 2004 Update:

Since November 2003 (pls see below of first edition), the Secretariat has been sending out to members an ICDA Members Service Newsletter whose primary objective is to draw on the latest developments in international trade and report it for members. You may see from above that the Road to Cancun newsletter was timely in the wake of what proved to be an upcoming abortive ministerial in Cancun Mexico. In the same vein, with this UNCTAD newsletter, the Secretariat has tried to draw on developments in and around UNCTAD for members—especially because a considerable number were not/are not/do not have the capacity to be monitoring UNCTAD.

 

Ideally, the Secretariat aims to send out the newsletter the first Friday of every month. However, due to major constraints on the staff’s time (because of pressures of moving, etc), it has been seriously delayed.

ICDA Members’ Service Newsletter #8, 12 November 2003: Cancun Aftermath - En Route to UNCTAD XI

Positions, Campaigns, Events, and Activities of ICDA Members and Partners in the Cancun Aftermath and the run-up to UNCTAD XI

http://www.icda.be/unldc3/unctadnews.htm

Meetings:

1. UNCTAD XI - FIRST PREPARATORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS, 6-17 October 2003

2. INTERACTIVE DEBATE ON GENDER & TRADE

3. CIVIL SOCIETY MEETING IN PREPARATION FOR UNCTAD XI/CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT

4. EXPERT MEETING ON MARKET ENTRY CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMPETITIVENESS AND EXPORTS ... (UNCTAD XI Working Group II)

Reports:

5. UNCTAD TRADE & DEVELOPMENT BOARD, 50^th SESSION: EMINENT PERSONS’ COMMODITY REPORT

6. REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS AND ISSUES IN THE POST-DOHA WORK PROGRAMME OF PARTICULAR CONCERN TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE OUTCOME OF THE 5th WTOMC

7. STATEMENT BY UNCTAD SECRETARY-GENERAL ON POST-DOHA DEVELOPMENTS

8. STATEMENT BY RUBENS RICUPERO ON THE STATE OF LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Press Releases:

9. NEW FDI PATTERN EMERGING, SAYS UNCTAD

10 . ON DANISH WTO DEBATE

Conferences:

11. INTERNATIONAL TRADE CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE; Delhi, India, 24-28 November 2003

ICDA Members' News Exchange:

12. MEMBERS NEWS-EXCHANGE

Dear ICDA Members,

After a short break we are resuming the monthly ICDA Members’ Service Newsletter with a new focus: "Cancun Aftermath - En Route to UNCTAD XI" -- a service that ICDA continues to offer its members in order to enhance exchange, cooperation, and coordination of information and intelligence, events and activities in the aftermath of the Cancun Ministerial and in the months leading up to UNCTAD XI, UNCTAD’s Eleventh Ministerial Conference to be convened in Sao Paolo, Brazil, 13-18 June 2004, organized around the main theme: "Enhancing coherence between national development strategies and global economic processes towards economic growth and development, particularly of developing countries".

Civil society organizations working on trade and sustainable development post-Cancun have many tasks to grapple with on the international development scene. Advocacy and lobby up to – and after - the 15 December deadline set in Cancun for reviewing the situation of the so called Doha Development Round is vital. The issues of agriculture, commodities, elimination of export subsidies, as well as market access for developing countries and least developed countries are some of the critical issues. That there are more LDCs today than there were a decade ago is a testament of the adversely-skewed international system that does not take into consideration the needs of the poorest.

With the establishment of the WTO, UNCTAD has been relegated to a secondary position in the trade and development debate, regardless of the constructive and important analysis and contributions on a range of trade and development issues that it provides. At this critical juncture between the WTO trade negotiations, or not, after Cancun, as well as the conclusion of a number of regional trade agreements, including the FTAA/Free Trade Area of the Americas, all 'slated' to conclude 1 January 2005, the follow-up to the recent international summits on Financing for Development and Sustainable Development, and the ongoing Millennium Development Goals campaigns, ICDA would like to bring the UNCTAD XI Conference into Civil Society’s focus and energies as an important international process and forum for monitoring and participation.

We are hoping that this newsletter can act as a conduit to and for our members to use UNCTAD to inextricably link development and trade in the international trade discourse, debate, and negotiations. With the help of our members, we believe that this aim can be achieved with optimal results.

Following this issue, on the first Friday of the month, we will send out this ‘Cancun Aftermath – UNCTAD XI’ newsletter to each of you as an update on both the post-Cancun and UNCTAD XI processes . Please keep us informed about your positions/visions, planned campaigns and activities that touch - either peripherally or specifically - on the work that UNCTAD is currently working on and the UNCTAD XI process, as well as your WTO-focused activities, so we can include them in this ICDA Members’ Newsletter.

The Newsletter will include information on upcoming UNCTAD-related activities, summaries of conference/meeting reports, etc., as well as post-Cancun information and important WTO-activities. And of course the Newsletter will include a ‘news-exchange’ among ICDA members. Your contributions are welcome.

Best wishes,
Janice Goodson FOERDE
ICDA

c/o international consultant
Lyngbyvej 32B, 9.t.h.
DK - 2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark
tel.: 45+39 29 22 62
mail: Janice.G.Foerde@get2net.dk

and

 

b.   Accessing Yahoogroups online

This list-serve is actually a regular one to be used – provided there is regular information coming from other NGOs, or even the Commission. In fact, each time you attend a meeting and write a report, it is advisable to send the report through to ICDA Members by copying to icdamembers@yahoogroups.com, and following/using the templates that have been used in the past. FIRST, please ensure that Janice gets a first/second look at your report so that she approves it for posting, and advises as to which other list-serv the information can be sent.

ACCESSING  ICDA MEMBERS LIST-SERV ON-LINE: (please see below)

1. Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/

2. Sign in.  Login as: “icdamembers” ; password is “6vg54nke”

3. On the left-hand side of the screen, you should see "My Groups". The star next to icdamembers means that you are successfully inside icdamembers group as an administrator

4. Click on that...

5. you're ready to access the messages, archives & whatnot...

 

31 May 2004 UPDATE:

Please note that if you have not yet registered with ICDA Members on the yahoogroups service, you can do so – by going to “Add Members” – inside. This will enable you to freely send from Outlook Express, hopefully using your own ICDA email address (cf juliettestevenson@icda.be; katerinatan@icda.be; alicecrowley@icda.be, etc.) rather than always having to log onto Yahoogroups online.

 

4.   The WTO Impact List (WTOIL)

The WTOIL is – to repeat – the quintessential work that interns work on, so it is paramount that the layout, templates; sources of information are presented not only in a professional manner, but the prefatory remarks to the sources spark sufficient interest for WTOIL subscribers. Crucial to the professional layout is also the selection of sources. Please ensure that there is consistency of content vis-à-vis the focus. This means that you have to ensure that the articles you select—as cross-cutting as they may be—fit well under the particular theme of the day. So, an article that talks about the WTO, but also mentions bilateral relations would best fit under REGIONAL TRADE – and not UNLDC3, for example. Arguably, it could fit under the WTO-QATAR focus, but there would be plenty more articles for the WTO. REGIONAL TRADE encapsulates/encompasses bilateral relations, hence that is the more appropriate focus to go under.

 

 

 

2 JUNE 2004 UPDATE:

 

Here’s another one, sent by Maria Tikmanidi (just-concluded intern):

Please note that after “Best regards”, there should always be names of interns at the Secretariat, along with their emls. Please also note that the subject line should always be “WTOIL#xxx”, where xxx is the number. The focus area should ALWAYS be capitalized. So: UNLDC3-UNCTAD; RIO+10; WTO-UPDATE; REG-TRADE; FfD-IFIs-TNCs. And all in between square brackets “[…]”, where the suspension points contain the focus areas—[WTO-UPDATE], etc…

 

SOME IMPORTANT POINTERS (as per follow-up conversation between myself & former ICDA Interns Martin Hopkins & Natasha Forbes in July 2003)

1.      As you saw from the list I showed you last week, there are over 230 NGOs
subscribed to the WTOIL, including OXFAM. This means that including, say, a press release by OXFAM will not necessarily evince interest in hundreds of NGOs who receive the WTOIL, because they have already seen it because of the manner in which they already are exposed to a lot of NGO-related work, especially that of OXFAM by way of list-servs, etc.

 

2.      20 MAY 2004 Update:

As a result of the new change-over to the topica.com list-serv (http://www.topica.com/lists/wtoimpactlist), a lot of NGOs have been lost. It is therefore difficult to see exactly the number of NGOs subscribed to the WTOIL. Suffice to say that the NGO WTO Impact List (NGO WTOIL) has 95 subscribers at the time of writing. This suggests that a number of these NGOs (not all necessarily enjoying subscription to the regular WTO Impact List) area interested in ICDA’s little initiative to send information exclusively to NGOs.

 

 

 2. Also, because news from some of these NGOs is often disseminated widely,
including to the ETN list-serv, + the STOPWTORound list-serv, et al. Using
it for the WTOIL may be useful for *some* people, but **not most**, as it is
not only NGOs that subscribe to the StopWTORound list, for example.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION

1. Please check Jennifer and my old WTOILs (Monday to Friday focus) from past six months and see which sources we both used. There were *many*. For the WTO, there's almost always something. For RIO+10, a search through allafrica.com, or worldnews.com could do the trick. Idem for UNLDC3  and any of the other focuses. The list we looked for last week also has useful sources, so please go a-checking...Jennifer expressly left some of her stuff behind
in computer B so that the new "occupier" could be exposed to the information
she was also exposed to in that time. It *is* there, so please take a look.

 

20 MAY 2004 UPDATE:

Given that, once again, a lot of the material was lost last week (ie week of 17 May 2004) from both computers, this also means that the paper with all the list of websites to visit have been lost. [2 June 2004] However, pls check below for a list of websites that will help.

 

31 MAY 2004/2 June 2004 UPDATE:

Help and hope are both at hand! Please find below a list of websites that we have used regularly for the respective focus areas on the WTOIL:

1. UNLDC3— http://www.brusselspost.com

Wed 2 Jun 2004

 

2. RIO+10: http://www.environmentglobe.com

3. WTO-Update: http://www.globaltrading.com

4. REG-TRADE: http://regionsWatch.tripod.com/index.htm

5. Ffd-IFIs-TNCs: http://www.worlddebt.com

 

There are ofcourse offshoots of these URLs, but these are the ones that interns, since late 2002/early 2003, have been using.

 

Final point: The reason why the WTOIL is especially valued and the list seems to be growing steadily is the eclectic nature of sources that we find. If you are stuck, I am happy to help out before I go, but please do remember that this WTOIL deserves serious attention for *different*, indeed atypical sources, even if short (in the summer, like Janice suggested, three articles are fine).

 

20 May 2004 Update:

As much as Jennifer Cyr was an equally exemplary intern in the manner in which she organised her work, sadly, a lot of her work got lost thanks to the computer breakdown( especially nettlesome/irritating was that of computer B—the Hewlett Packard). However, given the unpredictability of the computer, please ensure that a lot of information that you work on is saved either on diskettes, or the Sony USB 128MB Removable hard-disk, which is excellent for saving information very quickly, and saving it on another computer.

 

a.   Subscribing

You will know when to subscribe a new subscriber to the WTOIL when an email from BRAVENET arrives in the inbox – usually Computer A. If not, please ensure that it goes to computer A as this is the computer where the WTOIL goes out from.

Once you see the mail, please open it. Copy all the contents – including the email address of the subscribee. Pointing the mouse pointer to the email address of the “subscribee”, right-click the mouse button. Computer will prompt you to add to Address book. Agree, then once the box opens up, go to “OTHER”, and copy the rest of the details into OTHER.

Please make sure that the NAME of the person whom you are subscribing is CLEAR TO ANYONE who sees the email address. In doing this, please also ensure that you have included the person’s job function, or organisation in the email so you know where to put the person’s name in the WTOIL-2001 folder in the address book.

An example: E.K.Bensah NGO Intern ; another example: Romano Prodi President EU Commission IGO; Final example: Kofi Annan UN Secretary-General IO. NGO is self-explanatory. Also, students, and everyone else goes into “INDIVIDUAL”. Otherwise EU people and government/embassy officials go into IGO (intergovernmental organisations); and UN etc...people go into Int’l organisations. Please take a look at the WTOIL-2001 folder in the address book.

Afterwards, ensure that you have copied the address under the headings (depending on whether subscriber is NGO, IGO; IO; Individual (student, etc..) ) of the title WTOIL-2001. The computer may take twenty years to add as it is currently quite slow, but please be patient. It will add it. If you want to check, simply “FIND” the person, and go to OTHER to check which group he/she is in.

Once you have subscribed them, please go to the THANKYOU folder under the SUBSCRIBE WTOIL, and copy the email in that folder, or simply forward it, editing it appropriately to read: “Dear new WTO Impact Lister, Thankyou very much for subscribing to the… (please see below for actual example):

Dear ***Martin,

 

Thank you for joining the WTO Impact List!

 

I am attaching herewith the WTOIL we produced the week before we broke off for the Christmas break two years ago, in 2001, plus the week of 25 February's WTOIL for your perusal, plus Thursday 10 October 2002's WTOIL, with focus on regional trade.

 

We understand that it is a lot of reading, so if it proves too much, we'd be happy to locate specific articles for you.

 

Could you please give me an idea of what specific areas you are interested in, so that we can send you back copies from last year and the past few months? The best way to *request an article is by visiting the following URL: http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/request.htm* This way, we are sure to see it through the various 1001 emails that filter into our mailbox daily.

You should  be receiving ***2 WTOILs-- 2 with focus on  Ffd-IFIs-TNCs today (Monday).

 

Please don't forget that you can also view some of the past few months' WTOIL online at ICDA's WTOMC4 Information Page: http://www.icda.be/wtomc4/.

 

Keep up to date with UNCTAD-related news at ICDA's newly-revamped UNLDC3 page: http://www.icda.be/unldc3/unctadnews.htm

 

Happy reading!

 

For more information on what these focuses are about, please visit the following link:

http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/5dayfocus.htm

 

Also, if you're interested in reading some comments regarding the list, plus comments ICDA has made in response to the list, then please visit the following URL: http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/comments.htm

 

I have finally put up July to November 2001 WTOIL SOD Reports, which you can find more info on at the following URL: http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/sodreports/outline.htm

 

The most recent, which is available for your perusal, is that of August 2001, starting with the focus on UNLDC3: http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/sodreports/200108unldc3.htm

 

 ***Emmanuel

”

 

b.   Unsubscribing

Once someone wants to unsubscribe, thank them for their interest in the WTOIL. Then ask them whether they can visit the following URL: http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/wtoilsurvey.htm in order to “help us improve the efficiency of the lists”.

 

c.    SOD Reports

Please check the blue folder at the Secretariat entitled “SOD REPORTS” in order to have a better insight into how the SOD Reports are written. Also, please visit the following URL: http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/sodreports/july_sod.htm. The Main WTOIL SOD Report Page is actually: http://www.icda.be/wtoimpactlist/sodreports/outline.htm

 

d.   NGO WTO Impact List (NGO WTOIL)

The NGO Impact List, which goes out with at least three articles every week (depending on information out there posted by NGOs, etc..) is very much like the WTOIL. The only difference between the WTOIL and the NGOIL is that the NGOIL goes out ONLY to NGOs. (NGO WTOIL2). The email that ICDA uses to send out this mail is ngoeyesonly@icda.be . At this very quiet period, don’t worry about gleaning information.

 

2 JUNE 2004 UPDATE:

Please check below for the Feb 12, 2004 “NGO WTOIL” I sent out:

 

 

5.   Publications

a.   ICDA Update

 

6.   NGO Networks

a.   ETN

The ETN, or what was formerly known as CENNT, is replete with literature. Please see the folder entitled “CENNT”. Alternatively, you can check the folder in Computer A entitled “ETN” for the latest emails on the discussions of CENNT. You can also visit the ICDA Website (http://www.icda.be/cennt/etn.htm) to obtain more information. ICDA is a founding member of CENNT. The usual suspects, as it were, of the ETN discussions to watch out for are: Collin Harker (ICFTU); Genevra Forwood (SOLIDAR); Bob van Dillen (CIDSE); Myriam vander Stichele (SOMO). Alexandra Wandel (FOEEurope) & Tobias Reichert (Forum Env.Development)

 

(14h25)

1. Keith not had many responses regarding activities in run-up to Cancun
2. Most NGOs are focussing on New Issues (OXFAM, WDM, recently, CUTS; Birdlife)
3. Please identify themes in order to ascertain what orgs are planning for CANCUN
4. CIDSE organising something
5. ACTION AID: developing concerns round GMOs
1. Action Aid in the region—Bangladesh will be preparing for LDC Ministerial in Bangladesh
6. KEPA: food campaign (linked to AoA agreements) that will target C133 and Finnish sub-committee on WTO.
7. 14-15 May: Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) conference on Trade facilitation in preparation for Cancun. (EKB)
8. Alexandra Wandel—PALERMO: send a little delegation off to Palermo –hand off a statement to ministers
1. First Saturday in September (13^th) public mass rallies

 

9. MARC: send events of local, national, and international events to ETN list-serv
10. ALEXANDRA: mandate of the European Commission (not been reviewed since Seattle)
other things can be passed through to the ETN list-serv

 

 

b.   WTO Reference Group

 

The WTO Reference Group’s email list “EU-TRADE” includes the following 17 subscribers (a combination of network secretariats and national members):

 

 

1.    Aprodev

Rob van Drimmelen: rob@aprodev.net

N.B. Rob: can I propose Clare Melamed to replace Peter With? Clare is also member of the Coordination Committee of the ETN.

 

2.    Eurostep

Guggi Laryea: glaryea@eurostep.org

Ruchi Tripathi: rtripathi@actionaid.co.uk

N.B. Ruchi: I think it would be useful to add ActionAid Alliance to the group, with Pushpendra (and you?) as the contacts. Guggi: in that case, can I propose Marc Maes to be added for Europstep?

 

3.    ICDA

General: icda@icda.be

Emmanuel K. Bensah: ekbensah@icda.be

Janice Foerde: janice.g.foerde@get2net.dk

 

4.    WIDE

Alice Hodgson: a.hodgson@free.fr

Maria Karadenizli: mk.wide@xs4all.be

 

5.    CLONG

Guido Dumon: gdumon@clong.be

Sylvie Mantrant: smantrant@clong.be

N.B. I presume that, in April, Guido Dumon would be replaced by O. Consolo, and Sylvie Mantrant by one of the new EU policy officers.

 

6.    EFTA

Mariano Iossa: efta@eftadvocacy.org

N.B. Mariano: can I propose to add one of the EFTA members to the list?

 

7.    SOLIDAR

Genevra Forwood: genevra@solidar.org

Anja Osterhaus: anja@solidar.org

N.B. Genevra: can I propose to add one of the Solidar members to the list?

 

8.    Oxfam International

Sonia Vila-Hopkins : sonia.vila-hopkins@oxfaminternational.org

Jo Leadbeater: jo.leadbeater@oxfaminternational.org

N.B. Sonia: can I propose to add one of the OI members to the list? Eg Marita Hutjes?

 

9.    CIDSE

Bob van Dillen: vandillen@cidse.org

Neasa Ni Mhurchu: nimhurchu@cidse.org (my assistant)

 

NGDO coordination and collaboration on trade, especially on the EC dialogue process on the WTO, was discussed among development NGOs several times. On 3 March 2000, representatives of Brussels based networks as well as their member organisations met to review Eurpopean coordination around the Seattle WTO Ministerial meeting and the lessons to be drawn for future actions. This brainstorming meeting concluded that NGDO work at national and EC levels could benefit from the establishment of a framework for discussions for EU NGDOs on common positions and actions in their dialogue with the EC on WTO issues. This was furhter developed at a meeting in Brussels on 27 May, convened by the LC. At this meeting, a monitoring and coordinating group was set up (the ‘Reference Group’) comprising of Eurostep, Aprodev, CIDSE, the LC, WIDE, Solidar, ICDA and CENNT.

At the May 27, 2000 meeting, it was decided to set up the Reference Group with the following tasks:

 

Ø      Identify and liaise with the NGDO representative to the Civil Society Contact Group that meets regularly with the Commission;

Ø      Provide the NGDO representative on that Contact Group with information on, inter alia, persons to contact when seeking expertise on specific trade issues;

Ø      Disseminate information on dialogue with Commission to the wider NGDO community;

Ø      Monitor the “Issue Group’ meetings with the Commission;

Ø      Link with national NGDO groups working on trade

Ø      Ensure linkages with other civil society sectors through CENNT (Centre for European NGOs Networking on Trade)

Ø      Prepare proposals on how to organise consultations between civil society organisations and the EU institutions and reform of the system of dialogue with the Commission

 

 

c.    IGTN

This is the list-serv, managed by ICDA, that former ICDA Intern Julio Montes de Oca helped establish in October 2001. For more information, please check  the brown folder entitled “IGTN”. ICDA has been, and remains, the European focal point for the International Gender & Trade Network (IGTN), whose global secretariat is in the US, at the Center of Concern (http://www.coc.org). One of the unique things about the IGTN is the way it is divided into regions. There is a  geographic region for each IGTN, which means that with ICDA representing Europe, there is IGTN Caribbean; IGTN USA, IGTN Asia, etc.

d.   IWGGT

The Informal Working Group on Gender & Trade was established in 1998 after the second WTO Ministerial. For more, please read ICDA’s page: http://www.icda.be/iwggt-index.htm. There is, however, a necessary distinction between IGTN and IWGGT. Whereas IGTN monitors trade issues that affect either directly or peripherally gender, IWGGT looks at influencing the WTO’s Trade Policy Review (TPR), so that it is more gender sensitive. This means using economic data, and gender data to have/make an impact on WTO countries.

7.   Office stuff

a.   Answering calls (phone)

This is the most basic aspect of the work, and involves very little effort. However, just a few pointers. Everytime someone calls to find out some information about ICDA, please ask make sure that you note down the details of the call, especially if it is something someone from the office cannot help with. Oftentimes, certain calls are made with intent to speak with Janice, so we have to ensure that, acting as a conduit, we can relay important and necessary information to Janice in either our weekly reports, or in a quick email that same day so that action can be taken as quickly as possible.

b.   Prospective Interns

Prospective interns email ICDA frequently – in part thanks to DevnetJobs. In any event, when they do send their applications/CV, please ensure that those WITH CV/letter of motivation stand a better chance of obtaining possibility for interview than those who simply attach their CVs. As you have a zillion things to do, it can be annoying, and frankly disrespectful, on those that simply attach their CVs. Are we to assume that they are so good they do not need explain why they want to work at ICDA?

 

In any case, discretion is required, but generally, they do “follow the instructions”, which is good for us interns that do literally have to be – to use a hackneyed term now at ICDA – schizophrenic in our versatility towards the work that needs to be done. Simply put, we need to be able to slip into the role of an interview at the drop of a hat, plus be able to assume the knowledge of any intern who is working SPECIFICALLY on a particular focus. Yes, it IS possible to work regularly on ALL FIVE FOCUS areas without getting bored/bogged down by all those mysterious acronyms that relentlessly tag along the subject. Take WTO: TRIPs, AoA, etc...mmmm. Need to know, yes, so please go a –reading anytime you can. That means reading up about Ffd-IFIs-TNCs, Regional Trade even if you’re not working on the list..

                                                              i.      What to do with “good” CV’s

Save them in APPLICATIONs folder in computer A (or in B, create one), and email the person indicating that you’re interested in interviewing them. You can also call to make it more informal, and make them feel more comfortable.

 

c.    Computer problems

                                                            i.      What to do with a virus

The virus is the most pernicious enemy of the ICDA Intern, as well as the ICDA  computer(s). Interns need to ensure that they have regularly updated the anti-virus software on the computer. One way of doing this is by going to BELGACOM Skynet’s portal at http://tucows.skynet.be, and typing up a search for freeware / shareware antivirus.

                                                         ii.      Clearing space for memory (erasing temp files)

The computer often clogs up, and slows down considerably, albeit annoyingly so. In the interests of office efficiency, it is paramount that temporary files from the Internet are regularly cleaned. This can be done by following these steps:

a.       Open Internet Explorer

b.      Click on “Tools”

c.       Click on “Internet Options”

d.      In the box “Temporary Internet Files”, click on “Delete Files”, then click on “Delete cookies”. Usually, when you click on the former, and the computer takes longer to finish, then it means that there were many files.

                                                      iii.      Email not working?

1.       The WTO Impact List is sent off using Planet Internet (be195… is the username, and the WTOIL always connects (via a popup) ) once the wtoimpactlist@icda.be address is used

2.       ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT ONCE THE WTOIL IS SENT OUT, Planet Internet is DISCONNECTED!! Otherwise Belgacom will not only charge us, but Planet Internet too—with VERY high charges, which if not paid on time will have disconnected.

 

 

8.   FUNDING (fund-raising) projects

ICDA generally has an ongoing fund-raising campaign, especially as money goes out faster than it comes in. The most popular ones recently have been from NOVIB (Dutch Oxfam) for the 15-16 November 2002 Annual Conference, and the WTO Impact List. At the time of writing, ICDA has yet to recuperate, as it were, the rest of the 1000 Euros that NOVIB has waiting for ICDA (we always receive 80% of the actual amount; the rest is disbursed once proof of reports/some documentation is sent in). Right now, ICDA SERIOUSLY needs to fund-raise, and interns have, in the past, been able to come up with ideas to propose to Janice for fund-raising. Fund-raising around conferences with a specific purpose is usually the best option.

a.   NOVIB (WTOIL)

Situation has yet to change. Please see above. However, OXFAM UK, last year, did disburse to ICDA, albeit with a caveat, £5000 pounds. We have yet to apply to them, as they asked us for a Terms of Reference so that someone from their team could use that to assess the WTOIL. Apparently, we would stand a better chance of obtaining money if an assessment of the utility of the WTOIL were conducted. CLAIRE GODFREY (cgodfrey@oxfam.org.uk) is the contact person.

b.   11.11.11 (ICDA AC report)

In late May/early June, ICDA applied to 11.11.11 for some money to put towards the production of the Annual Conference Report. We have yet to hear anything from them. The situation is, frankly, unclear, and the lack of clarity may be compounded by people away on holidays. The contact person is Marc Maes (ETN/Cotonou Monitoring Group), and his email is mmaes@11.11.11.be. Rudy de Meyer is the primary head, and may be able to provide more information as he knows ICDA since the early nineties/late 80s, as well as Janice.

 

 

9. BILLS to URGENTLY see to:

1. RENT—Euros 1,429.61

2. PHOTOCOPIES:
            -->invoice # 6086 (June 2003): Euros 16, 35
            -->invoice # 6085 (May 2003): Euros 39, 70

3. LYRECO:
            --> Euros 119, 26 (ream of paper/water)

4. BELGACOM (for June-July):
            --> Euros 20, 70 (Fax)
            --> Euros 141, 08 (phone)

 

5. PLANET INTERNET

I don’t know how much they will be charging, but July-August’s bill will be a large one, and if money is not found to pay, once cannot send out the WTOILS!!!!! They have cut us off before even when payment was just slightly late, so please follow up seriously on this!

 

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

Updated: Sunday, 3 August 2003

©Ekb/