By Michael Paulson

Washington -- The Clinton administration wants to set aside the day before this fall's World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle to allow consumer, environmental and labor groups to air their concerns directly to the world's trade ministers. The move to provide a formal opportunity for public interest groups to address members of the often closed and secretive international organization comes as companies, countries, and a variety of organizations are stepping up their efforts to influence the Seattle gathering, which will be the largest trade meeting ever held in the United States.

Industries from chocolate manufacturers to liquor distillers want Congress to put their needs on the U.S. agenda, while members of Congress want to use the WTO to do everything from stemming the flow of film making jobs to Canada to protecting U.S. steel and sugar industries.

And an army of public interest groups, concerned that trade liberalization is coming at the expense of the environment, food safety, consumers and workers, is planning a mix of protest and participation in their efforts to call attention to their critique of global trade liberalization. Although many countries do not share the United States' concern about labor and environmental issues, Deputy United States Trade Representative Susan Esserman testified at a congressional hearing yesterday that her agency hopes to offer consumer groups, business associations, environmental groups and labor organizations a chance to publicly voice their views. Her boss, Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, will be chairwoman of the Seattle meeting.

"We do think it's very important for members of civil society to have direct access to the ministers," Esserman said. Then, citing a "very successful and very positive" gathering in Geneva in March in which environmental groups were allowed to speak to WTO trade ministers, Esserman said, "we are also contemplating doing the very same thing on a range of issues the day before the ministerial (meeting) begins in Seattle."

Esserman said the gathering for business, consumer, environmental and labor groups might be a tough sell to some countries. "Many governments around the world do not share our interest in labor, so there is a great deal of work that needs to be done . . . to talk to other governments about the importance of including the labor perspective."

Pressed by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., on whether the interest groups would really have an opportunity to speak directly to foreign trade ministers, Esserman said "we are seeking to include mechanisms for direct participation, by labor, by environmental groups, so that they have a chance to directly provide their views to the ministers in the WTO. This is something that we have been urging on the other countries in the WTO who don't necessarily share our interest in doing this. But we have very, very strongly advocated doing it."

Critics of the fast pace at which the WTO is affecting world trade greeted Esserman's proposal with skepticism. Although President Clinton hopes the Seattle session will launch a new round of global trade negotiations, the critics say the WTO would be better off pausing to reflect on the successes and failures of past trade liberalization efforts. "If we have this kind of forum the day before the ministers meet, not only is it going to be too little, but it will be too late," said David Downes, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, who said the United States government has not been aggressive enough in pushing environmental concerns. "By the time the ministers sit down in Seattle, the deal will have been done, so this will have as much show value as anything else."

Environmentalists are concerned that in the rush to remove trade barriers between nations, it is becoming too easy to override environmental standards of various countries. That complaint is echoed by advocates of strict food safety and labor standards, who argue that the most progressive countries are being forced to give up some of their consumer and worker protections in the interests of uniform global regulations. "Our ultimate objective is that there should no longer be a downward harmonization of health and food and environmental standards," said Mike Dolan, the deputy director of the Global Trade Watch program of Public Citizen, a consumer group founded by Ralph Nader. "There has been a trumping of laws by faceless trade bureaucrats in Geneva, and it's not acceptable."

Dolan is helping a wide array of public interest groups prepare for the Seattle meeting, and he promises a mix of tactics to try to influence it. "There is a very intricate choreography of inside and outside activities by a number of civil society groups," he said. "On the inside, accredited non-governmental organizations will take whatever the World Trade Organization is willing to offer in the way of seats near the table. On the outside, there will be a series of organized symposia, press conferences and strategy sessions, as well as demonstrations and protests. . ." As for the proposed one-day event, Dolan said, "I can't wait to receive my invitation to that. I'll believe it when I see it. Our challenge is to have a seat at the table, and not merely near the table."

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