“Free trade” promoted as a panacea to overcome poverty, has exacerbated poverty and primarily serves corporate interests.
Greens commit to replacing development policies which link aid to free trade with programs aimed at retaining added value locally, by supporting basic infrastructures of education and health, and by preserving policy space for communities to decide themselves on their specific way of achieving sustainable development.

The legitimacy of the WTO can only be achieved by making sustainability its central goal supported by transparent and democratic processes and the participation of representatives from the affected communities. International trade rules under a revamped WTO must be designed to achieve the higher goal of truly sustainable global development, including social rights, environmental sustainability and consumer protection. More concretely:

Ø Multilateral trade agreements must include provisions that guarantee developing countries enough policy space to define and pursue their own development strategies.
Ø International Commodity Agreements, which stabilize the prices of the most volatile agricultural export goods, should guarantee a fair and stable return especially to small producers, and involve producers and consumers along the entire supply chain.
Ø Imports into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from countries that (1) have not ratified international climate agreements, (2) do not abide by such agreements or (3) do not implement ILO’s core labour standards should be subject to border tax adjustments to establish an equitable trading environment for all.
Ø Greens demand that the corporations of developed countries, applying their technologies in developing countries, are subject to the same environmental and social responsibility policies that they have to observe in their country of origin.
Ø Internationally certified Fair Trade products should get greater access to OECD markets. Public entities should have procurement policies mandated to favour Fair Trade by exempting such products from tariffs at OECD borders, and by requiring large retailers to offer a minimum percentage of Fair Trade products in their stores.
Ø The WTO should stick to its main task which is to set trade rules. International labour and environmental standards, such as those enshrined in the ILO and international environmental conventions, should be the leading principles in international trade and never be overruled by WTO provisions. Trade competition should be based on best labour and ecological practices and not on avoidance of such standards.
Ø International trade rules should allow for the creation of regional economic areas, which prioritise harmonization of social and environmental standards at the highest level.
Ø The corporate patents of products which are crucial to fight global diseases and climate change should be subject to mandatory licensing taking due account of the costs incurred in their development. In extreme cases compulsory licensing might be envisaged.