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CHAPTERII
ofcustomschargeswaseliminated(in1998,anaveragelevelofcustomsduties
intheimportsofthediscussedgroupofgoodsdidnotexceed2.9%).Customs
dutiesweretoremainonlyfortheimportsofcars,forwhichaten-yearlong
periodofliberalisationwasestablished.Theyarebeing,however,gradually
reducedandatthebeginningof2002weredisappearcompletely.
OnJanuary1st2000,thenextroundontheliberalisationoftheinternational
trade,especiallyontradinginagriculturalproductsandinservices(Gray,1983),
wastobegininSeattle,intheUnitedStates,thistimeundertheauspices
ofWTO(Cohn,2000,p.214-217).Besidethetwomentionedareas,itwas
supposedtocovertheclassicaspectsoftheinternationaltradeliberalisation,
suchascustomstariffsforindustrialproducts,theproblemsofpublicmarkets
andpublicinvestments,aswellasthegeneralissuesoftrade,competitionand
investments(Cohn,2000,p.214-217).TheEuropeanUnionexpressedvivid
interestinthenewround.IntheofficialUnioncirclesthecomingnegotiations
weredescribedasthe“newmillenniumcycle”,whichwassupposedtoemphasise
itssignificance(Cohn,2000,p.214-217).
InthecourseoftheministerialsessionoftheWTOmembers,whichwas
heldintheendofNovemberandinthebeginningofDecember1999,inSeattle
(USA),seriousprotestsagainstthenewnegotiationsontheinternationaltrade
liberalisation,mostlycomingfromnon-governmental,ecological,leftistand
anarchicorganisations,tookplace.Asaresult,onJanuary1st,thenewround
ofthetradenegotiations,calledearlierthemillenniumround,didnotstart.
Itisworthconsideringwhatwastherootofthoseprotestsagainstthe
liberalisationoftrade.Onehastonoticeherethattheissuesofthefreetrade
exchangeareconnectedwiththecontinuouslygrowingprocessesofglobalisation
oftheworldeconomy,whichhasitsadvocatesaswellasitsopponents(Amin,
1999),(Stonehouse,Hamil,Campbell,Purdie,2000).Atthesametimethose
globalistandseparatisttendenciesare,inasense,linkedandtheyinciteeach
other.Itisobviousthatthewarwhichisbeingconductedagainstanyformof
dependence,againsttechnology,masscultureandcommonmarketswouldbe
impossiblewithoutglobalcommunication.
Itisnoteasytofindaworldcentreofantiglobalists.However,onehasto
observeherethattheirorganisationsco-ordinatetheiractionsor,atleast,inform
oneanotheraboutthem.Internet,themostglobalmediumofallcontemporary
worldmedia,hasbecometheirbasicmeansofcommunication.
Whileobservingtheconsiderationsonthenewdevelopmentalconditions,one
noticesthattheemphasisisbeingputonthenecessityofadjustingtheeconomic
strategiesoflargeconcernstoamanandtosociety,onthenecessityofstopping
treatingthemonlyasconsumers.Theconcurrenceofsuchanattitudewiththe
socialdoctrineoftheCatholicChurch,expressedmainlyintheencyclicalof
JohnPaulII,“Centesimosannos”isquitestriking.PopeJohnPaulIIpoints
