Editing 1999 Seattle WTO protests (section)

===Lead-up months===
On July 12, the ''[[Financial Times]]'' reported that the latest United Nations Human Development report advocated "principles of performance for multinationals on labour standards, fair trade and environmental protection ... needed to counter the negative effects of globalisation on the poorest nations". The report itself argued, "An essential aspect of global governance is responsibility to people—to equity, to justice, to enlarging the choices of all".<ref>[http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1999/ ''Globalization with a Human Face''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703061954/http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1999/ |date=July 3, 2008}} UNHDR, 1999</ref>

On July 16, Helene Cooper of ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' warned of an impending "massive mobilization against globalization" being planned for the end-of-year Seattle WTO conference.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wto/wsj071699.html |title=Globalization Foes Plan to Protest WTO's Seattle Round Trade Talks |publisher=Globalexchange.org |access-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804174410/http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wto/wsj071699.html |archive-date=August 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref>  Next day, the London ''[[The Independent|Independent]]'' newspaper savaged the WTO and appeared to side with the organizers of the rapidly developing storm of protest:

<blockquote>The way it has used [its] powers is leading to a growing suspicion that its initials should really stand for World Take Over. In a series of rulings it has struck down measures to help the world's poor, protect the environment, and safeguard health in the interests of private—usually American—companies.

"The WTO seems to be on a crusade to increase private profit at the expense of all other considerations, including the well-being and quality of life of the mass of the world's people," says Ronnie Hall, trade campaigner at Friends of the Earth International. "It seems to have a relentless drive to extend its power."<ref>[https://groups.yahoo.com/group/StopWTORound/message/56 THE HIDDEN TENTACLES OF THE WORLD'S MOST SECRET BODY] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221185009/https://www.yahoo.com/ |date=February 21, 2022 }} Sunday Independent, 17 July 1999</ref></blockquote>

On November 16, two weeks before the conference, President [[Bill Clinton]] issued Executive Order 13141—Environmental Review of Trade Agreements,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=56947 |title=Presidential Executive Order 13141 |publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu |date=November 16, 1999 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-date=August 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804164915/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=56947 |url-status=live }}</ref> which committed the United States to a policy of "assessment and consideration of the environmental impacts of trade agreements" and stated, "Trade agreements should contribute to the broader goal of sustainable development."

[[File:Anarchists at WTO protest (14988709689).jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.2|[[Black bloc]] organizing during WTO protests]]

Activists staged a spoof of Seattle daily newspaper the ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer|Post-Intelligencer]]'' on Wednesday November 24, inserting thousands of hoax editions of a four-page front-page wrap-around into piles of newspapers awaiting distribution to hundreds of street boxes and retail outlets. The spoof front-page stories were "Boeing to move overseas" (to Indonesia) and "Clinton pledges help for poorest nations".<ref>Parvaz D "[http://www.seattlepi.com/local/pi25.shtml P-I executives not amused by protesters' parody]" ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'', November 25, 1999</ref> The byline on the Boeing story attributed it to [[Joe Hill (activist)|Joe Hill]] (a union organizer who had been executed by firing squad in Utah in 1915). On the same day, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development reported:

<blockquote>developing countries have remained steadfast in their demand that developed countries honour Uruguay Round commitments before moving forward full force with new trade negotiations. Specifically, developing countries are concerned over developed countries' compliance with agreements on market access for textiles, their use of antidumping measures against developing countries' exports, and over-implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).<ref>''[http://ictsd.net/i/news/bridgesweekly/19192/ No New Issues Without Redress Of Uruguay Round Imbalances] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221185029/https://greendot208.org/ |date=February 21, 2022 }}''ICTSD ''Bridges Weekly'' Seattle 99, Vol 3 No 46, November 24, 1999</ref></blockquote>