Open Letter to Dr. Supachai Regarding Mr. Harbinson's Chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee

26 July 2002

Dear Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi,

Re: Stuart Harbinson As Secretariat Staff, Cannot Retain Chairmanship in the Agriculture Committee Special Session

We look forward to your term as Director General of the WTO commencing in September, as a time for developing countries' interests to be given the long overdue attention they deserve.

In this light, we would like to raise an important matter. Since your appointment of the current Hong Kong Ambassador to the WTO, Mr. Stuart Harbinson as chef de cabinet, we have not heard news that he will relinquish his current Chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee. We seek your assurance that he will step down once he assumes the Secretariat position due to potential conflicts of interest.

For Harbinson to assume both positions would be the accumulation of too much power for a single individual. The legal texts of the WTO, as well as recent debates in the WTO emphasise the importance of keeping Secretariat staff separate from the negotiations.

Article VI.4 of the Agreement Establishing the WTO states that

'The responsibilities of the Director General and of the staff of the secretariat shall be exclusively international in character. In the discharge of their duties, the Director General and the staff of the Secretariat shall not seek or accept instructions from any government or any other authority external to the WTO. They shall refrain from any action which might adversely reflect on their position as international officials. The Members of the WTO shall respect the international character of the responsibilities of the Director-General and of the staff of the Secretariat and shall not seek to influence them in the discharge of their duties.'

More recently, the TNC endorsed the principle that appointments to WTO bodies should be made from among representatives of WTO Members, recognizing that the appointment of the DG ex-officio as TNC Chair was an exception, rather than the rule.

Therefore, to ensure the integrity of the office of the Director General, we ask that you direct Mr. Harbinson to relinquish the Chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee at the same time that he takes on the chef de cabinet position in September.


Organisational Signatures:

ActionAid
Ruchi Tripathi, RTripathi@actionaid.org.uk

Alliance of Progressive Labour (APL), Philippines
Josua Mata, apl@surfshop.net.ph

Africa Gender and Trade Network
Mohau Pheko, integity@sn.apc.org

Asia Gender and Trade Network
Tesa, southgt-discuss@isiswomen.org

Asia Pacific Network for Food Security (APNFS)
Jayson Cainglet, str2000@hotmail.com

Assembly of the Poor, Thailand
Prasittiporn Kan-Onsri, thaipoor@ksc.th.com

Berne Declaration, Switzerland
Andreas Missbach, amissbach@evb.ch

Bretton Woods Project, UK
Jeff Powell, jpowell@brettonwoodsproject.org

Centre for Youth Development and Activities, India
Mathew Mattam, cyda@vsnl.com

Christian Aid, UK
Claire Melamed, cmelamed@christian-aid.org

Coordination Against the WTO, France
Agnes Bertrand, ab.ire@wanadoo.fr

Community IPM in Asia, Indonesia
Nugroho Wienarto, nugrohowienarto@yahoo.com

Development Alternatives with Women For a New Era (DAWN)
Claire Slatter, Slatter_c@usp.ac.fj

Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and N Ireland
Ronnie Hall, ronnieh@gn.apc.org

Friends of the Earth Latin America and Caribbean, ATALC
Alberto Villarreal, comerc@redes.org.uy

Friends of the Earth, Netherlands (VMD, Leiden)
J.W.VanLeenhoff, wil.low@12move.nl

Friends of the Earth, Uruguay, REDES
Alberto Villarreal, comerc@redes.org.uy

Focus on the Global South - Thailand, Geneva
Walden Bello, waldenbello@yahoo.com, Aileen Kwa, aileenkwa@yahoo.com

Economic Research Foundation, New Delhi, India
CP Chandrasekhar, cpc@vsnl.com

Fedeerasi Serikat Petani Indonesia (FSPI)
Indra Lubis, petani@indosat.net.id

Foundation for Ecological Recovery, Thailand
Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, kakablue@yahoo.com or terraper@comnet.ksc.net.th

Food First / Institute for Food and Development Policy, United States
Anurandha Mittal, amittal@foodfirst.org

Hazards Centre, New Delhi, India
A.K.Roy, haz_cen@vsnl.net

Ibaraki Prefecture Agricultural Extension workers Union, Japan

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), United States
Shefali Sharma, ssharma@iatp.org, Steve Suppan, ssuppan@iatp.org

Institute for Economic Relocalisation, France
Agnes Bertrand, ab.ire@wanadoo.fr

International South Group Network
Yash Tandon, seatini.zw@undp.org

Integrated Rural Development Foundation, Philippines
Jayson Cainglet, str2000@hotmail.com

Labour Solidarity of North Sumatra
Agus Arifin, buruhsbsu1@hotmail.com

NGO Forum on Cambodia, Cambodia
Russell Peterson, ngoforum@ngoforum.org.kh

Pax Christi Australia
Joseph Camilleri, j.camilleri@latrobe.edu.au

Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP), Malaysia
Sarojeni Rengam, panap@panap.net

Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, Philippines
Marivic Raquiza, mraquiza@surfshop.net.ph

Resource Center for People's Development, Philippines
Francisco Pascual, rcpd@info.com.ph

Seatini, Zimbabwe
Yash Tandon, seatini.zw@undp.org

SEWA, Nepal
Sunil Manandhar, sewa@sewahq.wlink.com.np

Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement, Tonga
Lopeti Senituli, demo@kalianet.to

WEED, Weltwirtschaft, Okologie and Entwicklung, Germany
Peter Wahl, peter.wahl@weedbonn.org

West Java Peasant Movement, Indonesia
Supersemar Semar, spjboke@yahoo.com

WINFA
Arthur Bobb, winfa@caribsurf.com, spicytrade@yahoogroups.com

Women's Research and Action Group, Mumbai, India
Mona Mehta, wrag@sancharnet.in

Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, Zimbabwe
zimcodd@africaonline.co.zw



Individual Signatures:

Armah Zolu Jallah, jallah1998@yahoo.com

Chris Dixon, Department of Politics, Guildhall University, UK
Professor of International Development, cdixon@lgu.ac.uk

Gregore Lopez, Malaysia
st_greg@yahoo.com

Gail E.Evans, School of Law, Southern Cross University, Australia
gevans@scu.edu.au

Jaromir Kohlicek, Czech Republic,
Member of Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament, Kohlicek@psp.cz

Kudakwashe Ndoro
Commercial Farmers Union, Zimbabwe, kudand@cfu.co.zw

Vishal Singhal, India, vishal@spjimr.ernet.in

Ziaul Haque Mukta,
Associate Coordinator, Actionaid Bangledesh, mukta@fo.actionaid.bd.org

Mayumi KAWAHARADA
Supervisier, Labor Gakuen Institute, Japan

Nobuko FUJINAGA
Editor, A SEED, Japan

Michiyo FURUHASHI
Tokyo Met. Env. Education Leader, Japan

Osamu HAYAKAWA
Professor, Nippon University, Japan

Osamu HORII
Secretary General, Niigata Independent Farmers Union, Japan

Mika IBA
Executive Director, mika@mb.kcom.ne.jp
NESSFE (Network for Safe and Secure Food and Environment), Japan

Hideo IIDA
Secretary General, All Osaka Consumers' Organization Coordination Office, Japan

Junko KAMEDA
Consumer Cooperative's staff, Japan

Hiroko KAMIBAYASHI
Secretary General, "Our Seed Declaration" Office, Japan

Yasushi KUROI
Independent Writer, Japan

Nobuyoshi OKAZAKI
Executive, Osaka Pal Consumers Cooperative, Japan

Yukie SATO
Member of a citizens' coalition for WSSD, Sendai (Insurance firm employee), Japan

Shirou SUGITA,
Plantgenetist, Japan

Hitoshi TANAKA
Executive, Public workers Union Chapter, agricultural extension official, Japan

Hidefumi SUZUKI
Agricultural Extension worker, Japan

Hideko TOMITA
Local government employee, Japan

Yoetsu SASAKI
Miyagi Prefecture Food and Agriculture Network, Japan