The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Parliament (EP) will organise a meeting of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are present at the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha (Qatar). The parliamentary meeting is taking place Sunday, 11 November 2001, at the Conference Centre in the Sheraton Hotel.

MPs will have an opportunity to exchange views on the role of parliaments and their members in relation with international trade negotiations and parliamentary action to follow up on the results of the Ministerial Conference.

"We will focus on our own parliamentary tasks and responsibilities. In particular, we should discuss the action we can take, individually and collectively, to follow up on the results of this Ministerial Conference", says the President of the IPU Council, Dr. Najma Heptulla. For Dr. Heptulla, "the task of carrying out trade negotiations falls to governments. They negotiate international trade rules and arrangements on behalf of States. However, Parliaments must scrutinise government action and enact legislation. It is we, the members of parliaments, who are the legitimate representatives of the people; we have been elected to protect the interests of the wider public and to represent their views and aspirations".

"We must enable citizens and society as a whole to understand and cope with the interconnections between globalisation and their daily lives and translate their concerns into national and international policy. In recent years, many dramatic scenes broadcast by the media have shown us that, if we fail in this task, multilateral cooperation and trade negotiations will be seen as posing a threat to national interests and even democracy", adds, the IPU Secretary General, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson.

The IPU stresses that Parliaments have a constitutional role to legislate and to oversee the government. They should therefore take an active interest in trade negotiations and help to shape policy relating to international trade and to develop their respective government’s negotiating positions. Moreover, parliaments are called upon to ratify international trade agreements, implement their provisions through the adoption of appropriate legislation and budget allocations and oversee the implementation process as a whole.

---

Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 142 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has a Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York.
Other press releases	More information

---

INFORMATION AND INTERVIEWS

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer Tel. +4122 919 41 16/27 Fax: +4122 919 41 60, 919 41 97 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org