(1994)
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On April 15, The New York Times carried a full-page ad that hailed the World Trade Organization as "the third pillar of the new world order.”86 The World Trade Organization (WTO) sailed through the Senate in the closing days of the 103rd Congress, handing over to the UN system the authority and the mechanism to impose and enforce its agenda on America. The WTO Charter requires "the optimal use of the world resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development" (Preamble). It requires the WTO to “make appropriate arrangement for effective cooperation” with NGOs and intergovernmental organizations (Article V). It requires member nations to change their laws to conform to the WTO: each member shall ensure the conformity of its laws, regulations and administrative procedures with its obligations as provided in the annexed Agreements (Article XVI). Although the U.S. must pay a disproportionate share of the WTO cost, it has only one vote and no veto (Article IX). The WTO may impose trade sanctions on a nation that it determines is not in compliance with any international treaty. It may impose sanctions, fines, and penalties on a nation, or on an industry. Members are bound by the dispute resolutions dictated by the WTO (Section 2, Annex 2). Bilateral trade deals must meet the approval of the WTO. Bilateral or multilateral trade agreements can be changed by a vote of the members of the WTO (Article X (4)). Article XVI says: "No reservations may be made in respect to any provision of the Agreement."87 The WTO could not have survived without the U.S. The UN could not have controlled world trade without the WTO. But now the facility is in place and the bureaucracy is gearing up to become the first-line enforcement mechanism of global governance. |