The true face of Lebanon's WTO accession

"...Lebanon will begin its third round of negotiations for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva next month, but civil society groups fear that the costs of accession could far outweigh the benefits of increased access to Western markets in the absence of a clearly defined national development strategy." ..."Last November the United States signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement- essentially a memorandum of understanding for a future FTA -with Lebanon under what Oxfam believes to be a broader strategy to establish a consistent trade regime tilted toward US interests in a base of middle-income countries, said the NGO's policy officer for the Levant, Aiman Mackie." Read also how Minister of Trade Sami Haddad is trying to sneak Free Trade Agreements with the US behind the backs of the Lebanese people. Full story in this good article from Daily Star staff writer Lysandra Ohrstrom.