the world trade system how it works and what’s wrong with it

The document critiques the world trade system and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), asserting that the principles of 'free trade' are fundamentally flawed and lead to increased global inequality, environmental degradation, and economic instability. It highlights how the system prioritises corporate interests over public health, food security, and sustainability, specifically critiquing the TRIPs Agreement and the Agreement on Agriculture. The briefing also details the influence of transnational corporations (TNCs) on trade policy and the failures of various WTO Ministerial Conferences, including Seattle, Doha, and Cancún.

• The global trade system is based on flawed principles that prioritise economic growth and consumption as ends in themselves, ignoring the depletion of natural capital and the loss of biodiversity caused by increased transport and resource use.
• Trade liberalisation has exacerbated global inequality, benefiting developed countries (the 'Quad': US, EU, Canada, and Japan) and transnational corporations while marginalising poor countries and subsistence farmers.
• The theory of comparative advantage, a cornerstone of free trade, is considered obsolete because it assumes capital is immobile, whereas in the modern global economy, capital moves rapidly to the lowest-cost production sites.
• The WTO is critiqued as being undemocratic, untransparent, and heavily influenced by wealthy nations and corporate lobby groups, often excluding civil society and smaller countries from decision-making.
• The Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) facilitates 'biopiracy' by allowing Northern corporations to patent traditional plant varieties and prevents farmers from saving seeds, threatening food security.
• Trade rules frequently conflict with environmental and health protections, often overturning national laws or watering down multilateral environmental agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Biosafety Protocol.
• Transnational corporations (TNCs) exert immense influence over trade rules through high-level access to governments and the use of corporate lobby groups such as the International Chamber of Commerce and the Transatlantic Business Dialogue.
• The 'race to the bottom' occurs as governments lower environmental, health, and labour standards to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), while companies threaten to relocate to countries with weaker regulations.
• Export-led development strategies promoted by the IMF and World Bank often lead to environmental destruction and high debt, as seen in the Philippines' timber industry and mining in Ghana.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2003). the world trade system how it works and what’s wrong with it. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/worldtradesystem.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. the world trade system how it works and what’s wrong with it. 2003. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/worldtradesystem.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=the world trade system how it works and what’s wrong with it |date=August 2003 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/worldtradesystem.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2003world, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{the world trade system how it works and what’s wrong with it}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2003}, month = aug, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/worldtradesystem.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }