Open letter on the March 2002 WTO Symposium on Assessment in Trade of Services

An open letter from WWF and CIEL providing recommendations for the March 2002 WTO symposium on the assessment of trade in services, urging for a holistic approach that includes environmental, social, and developmental dimensions beyond narrow economic trade aspects.

• WWF and CIEL argue that the March 2002 WTO symposium on services trade assessment should serve as a starting point for sectoral or nation-wide assessments rather than acting as a replacement for 'on the ground' assessments.
• The authors state that the symposium must move beyond information exchange to include a commitment to action, specifically by creating a roadmap for financial and technical assistance for national assessments, sectoral case-studies, and research, as required by the Doha mandate and services negotiating guidelines.
• WWF and CIEL recommend that the symposium be open to civil society organisations and include a diverse range of invited speakers from international organisations such as WHO, UNEP, UNDP, UNCTAD, OECD, ITC, the Southcentre, and the UN Sub-Commission for Human Rights.
• The letter criticizes the symposium's agenda for focusing exclusively on economic and trade aspects of services liberalisation. WWF and CIEL urge the inclusion of social, developmental, and environmental dimensions, noting that sectors like health services and tourism demonstrate that liberalisation can have both positive and negative impacts on employment and the environment.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2002). Open letter on the March 2002 WTO Symposium on Assessment in Trade of Services. https://www.ciel.org/news/read-the-open-letter-on-the-march-2002-wto-symposium-on-assessment-in-trade-of-services/

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Open letter on the March 2002 WTO Symposium on Assessment in Trade of Services. 2002. https://www.ciel.org/news/read-the-open-letter-on-the-march-2002-wto-symposium-on-assessment-in-trade-of-services/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Open letter on the March 2002 WTO Symposium on Assessment in Trade of Services |date=1 February 2002 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/read-the-open-letter-on-the-march-2002-wto-symposium-on-assessment-in-trade-of-services/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2002open, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Open letter on the March 2002 WTO Symposium on Assessment in Trade of Services}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2002}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/read-the-open-letter-on-the-march-2002-wto-symposium-on-assessment-in-trade-of-services/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }