Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 5 • Number 18 • 15th May 2001

Doha: WTO Approves Procedures for NGO Registration and Attendance

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At the 8 May WTO General Council meeting (see related story, this issue), Members agreed on the sequence to be followed for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) wishing to attend the WTO’s Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar from 9-13 November.

According to the paper, (WT/MIN(01)/INF/3), interested groups must submit requests for registration by 2 July. Requests for registration received after that date will not be processed. Applications from NGOs to be registered will be accepted, according to the 8 May decision, on the basis of Article V.2 of the WTO Agreement, i.e. NGOs “concerned with matters related to those of the WTO”.

The WTO website indicates that, “when filing their request for registration to attend the Doha Ministerial Conference, NGOs must supply in detail all necessary information showing how they are concerned with matters related to those of the WTO.” Indicating previous registration for prior WTO Ministerial Conferences will facilitate this process.

Members agreed that confirmation of an NGO’s eligibility to register would be sent, together with individual registration forms, as of 1 August, after the list of NGOs having requested registration has been circulated to WTO Members.

In light of the expected interest among NGOs in attending the Doha Ministerial Conference, the decision stated, “certain limits may have to be placed on the number of representatives per NGO delegation”. When contacted for comment, WTO officials were unable to say or conjecture at this time how many individuals from each NGO would be allowed to attend. According to one official, “it will depend entirely on how many groups are registered.”

Once individual registration forms have been sent, the WTO decision indicates that they should be returned to the WTO not later than 17 September. Further information, including procedures for reservation of hotel accommodation and visa application, will be provided in the letter confirming registration eligibility.

As of 1 October, NGOs will receive confirmation of registration. On that basis, badges will be made available in Doha, which allow access to all official Ministerial related venues.

The paper made clear that NGOs would be allowed to attend only the Plenary Sessions of the Conference, without the right to speak.

The communication of these procedures follows by a few weeks the announcement of the limited amount of visas available for NGOs attending the Conference (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 May 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/01-05-01/wtoinbrief.htm).

A member of the delegation organising the Conference affirmed that, “Qatar wants to become a good venue for people who would come and exchange thoughts and create a dialogue amongst themselves in a respectful manner”.

Fearing that Southern NGOs might encounter difficulties in meeting the various deadlines, Pakistan and Egypt urged financial help to improve developing countries’ civil society groups’ capability of attending the Ministerial Conference. The European Union and Canada manifested their concern and supported the idea of assistance for Southern NGOs.

Those groups wishing to apply for registration are encouraged to visit http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min01_e/min01_ngo_accredit_ e.htm for a detailed description of the WTO’s NGO accreditation process.

“Ministerial NGOs wishing to attend WTO Qatar Ministerial must apply by July 2,” WTO Reporter, 11 May 2001; “Qatar says open peaceful demonstrators at WTO meet,” AFP, 5 May 2001; ICTSD Internal Files.