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Kathmandu, Sunday, December 12, 1999 Marga 26th, 2056.
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‘Involve
civil society in trade policies’
By
a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU,
Dec 11 - Civil society organizations gathered here on Friday at the
Post Seattle briefing have expressed their view that the failure of
the Seattle conference should be utilized by the government as an
opportunity to consult with the civil society in formulating its
future trade policies, says a press release issued by Pro Public here
Friday.
According
to the release, Dr Hira Mani Ghimire from the Ministry of
Commerce, speaking on the occasion said that the failure of the
Seattle Conference has given more time to developing countries to
better prepare themselves for the upcoming negotiations to be held in
Geneva next year. “We should encash this opportunity,” he said.
Dr Ramesh
Khadka, country director of Action Aid Nepal (AAN) said that such
agreements as Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and
Agreement on Agriculture have direct bearing on the food security of
the net food importing developing nations, states the press release.
Dr
Khadka also said, “Agreements adversely affecting the requirements
of developing countries should be amended.”
Pointing
out several loopholes in the TRIPs agreement, Prof Ram Prasad
Chaudhary of Nepal Forum for Bio-Diversity Conservation (NEFOBIC)
stressed on the need to utilize these weaknesses to protect the
bio-diversity of the country.
On
the same occasion, Ratnakar Adhikari of Forum for Protection of Public
Interest said that the failure of the Conference should be taken as a
lesson by the developed countries. He said, “Capacity of developing
countries to negotiate and safeguard their interests have increased
over the years and thus should not be taken for granted by the
developed nations.”
Sixty
participants from the civil society, media, academia and government
ministries participated at the functioin which was jointly organized
by Pro-Public and Action Aid Nepal.
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