The Dominican Republic is the spokescountry for the unified grouping of African, Caribbean and Pacific states before the II World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (www.wto.org) that opens in Seattle, USA 30 November. The position of the ACP governments for "globalization with a human face" also has the support of Latin America and Eastern Europe. The four day conference ends 3 December. Minister of Industry and Commerce Luis Manuel Bonetti heads the delegation. Other members are Minister of Agriculture Amilcar Romero; Technical Secretary of the Presidency, Juan Temístocles Montás. Likewise, Osmar Benitez, agriculture advisor to the Executive Branch; Luis Manuel Piantini, vice governor of the Central Bank; Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations Frederic Emam-Zade and president of the National Commission of Trade Negotiations (CNNC); Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Miguel Angel Heredia. Also Deputy Miniter of Agriculture Juan José Espinal; Magdalena Lizardo of the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency; Executive Branch judicial deputy advisor, Margarita Cedeño; Federico Cuello, WTO ambassador based in Geneva, Swtizerland. Martiza Amalia Guerrero, technical ambssador in charge of WTO at the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Ruth Lockward, of the Executive Branch press department. The ACP nations seek that Europe fulfill commitments made during the Uruguay talks. Much of this focuses on the subsidies Europe provides to its farmers. They also support the United Nations proposal for "globalization with a human face." http://www.undp.org/hdro/99.htm During the II ACP Summit held in Santo Domingo, President Fernández expressed that the ACP nations seek non-reciprocal trade for a limited time (2010), and measures to help developing nations insert their products in international markets. President Leonel Fernández, who is president of the ACP group of states, asked for a waiver before the WTO so that the European Union can continue or renovate their cooperation. "We need a vision of development that would ensure the special and differentiated treatment that our disimilar economies merit," said the President referring to the differences between developed and developing countries.
