Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 3 • 29th January 2003

Cancun Bulletin: Logistical Update, Civil Society Mobilisation

This is the first in a series of occasional updates that aim to provide information of use to those individuals and organisations who plan on attending the WTO’s fifth Ministerial Conference in September.

Date

The WTO’s fifth Ministerial Conference is officially scheduled for 10- 14 September at Cancún, Mexico.

Venue

While a venue for a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Centre has yet to be determined, the Ministerial Conference itself will take place in the Cancún Centro de Convenciones, located at the very tip of Punta Cancún. The Press Centre will be located approximately 50 metres away from the Ministerial venue, in the Fiesta Americana Coral Beach hotel. Sources indicate that the NGO Centre will be approximately a five- minute walk from the Convention Centre.

Accreditation

Accreditation procedures for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are slotted to be discussed at the 10-11 February meeting of the WTO General Council. Once Members have decided on the issue, further details are expected in early March, at which point they will be posted on the WTO website (http://www.wto.org). While a definitive number of attendees per NGO is not available as of yet, sources indicate that accreditation numbers are likely to be around four per organisation. At the last Ministerial Conference in Doha in November 2001, due to hotel and capacity constraints, only one person per NGO was officially allowed to attend.

Accommodation

Sources indicate that hotel bookings at Cancún are likely to be managed by a central reservation agency, though such a system is not yet established.

The Mexican government has indicated it plans to establish a website to disseminate further information regarding the Ministerial Conference in the near future.

Civil Society groups call for mobilisation

A broad spectrum of Mexican and international civil society organisations — 142 in all — has called for the organisation and coordination of "information exchanges, massive public education, mobilisation, and actions of protest, pressure, lobbying and repudiation" in the leadup to and around the WTO’s Cancún Ministerial.

As part of this initiative, the group has launched an open Spanish/English electronic listserv, entitled acancun-l@laneta.apc.org. To sign up to the list, visit: http://www.laneta.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/acancun-l. Further information can be obtained from the Centro de Estudios para el Cambio en el Campo Mexicano (Ceccam) Vito Alessio Robles No. 76 casa 7 Col. Florida. México, D.F. 01030 tel: 525 6 61 19 25 y 525 6 61 53 98.

ICTSD reporting.