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

The document is an open letter from WWF and CIEL regarding the WTO symposium on the assessment of trade in services. The authors argue that the symposium should be a starting point for 'on the ground' assessments rather than a substitute for them, and should result in a clear roadmap for technical and financial assistance for research and national assessments. They criticize the current agenda for focusing solely on trade and economic aspects, urging the inclusion of social, developmental, and environmental dimensions to avoid providing only 'partial information'. Additionally, they call for a transparent process that includes civil society and a diverse range of international organizations, such as WHO and UNEP.

• The symposium on services trade assessment should serve as a preliminary step toward sectoral or nation-wide assessments and must not be used as a replacement for 'on the ground' assessments.
• The symposium's outcomes should go beyond information exchange to provide a concrete roadmap for financial and technical assistance to support national assessments, sectoral case-studies, and research, as required by the Doha mandate and services negotiating guidelines.
• The authors argue that the symposium's agenda is too narrow because it focuses only on economic and trade aspects, ignoring the environmental, social, and developmental impacts of services liberalisation, which they claim is necessary for a 'holistic understanding'.
• To ensure a comprehensive process, the authors recommend inviting a wide range of international organisations—including WHO, UNEP, UNDP, UNCTAD, OECD, ITC, the Southcentre, and the UN Sub-Commission for Human Rights—and opening the meeting to civil society organisations.

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} }