Washington, D.C., September 8, 2003 – The Fifth World Trade Organization Ministerial meeting in Cancún, Mexico will begin this week, with tens of thousands of official delegates, non-profit representatives, and activists debating the future of trade liberalization.  The meeting will provide an opportunity for advocates of open markets to explain the benefits of free trade and the threat posed to global prosperity by efforts to slow down much-needed reforms. 

Issues on the table among delegates will include linking international environmental and labor regulations to negotiations, agricultural tariffs, the timeline for developing world implementation, and anti-dumping provisions.  Among NGOs, activists, and international observers, however, the debate will cover a larger range of issues related to globalization, including trade in genetically-modified foods, climate change, developing world debt relief, and human rights.  For analysis as the meeting unfolds, contact the policy experts of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. 

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org.