Representatives from across the globe are convening at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi to try and set new rules for global commerce.
But concerns are being raised about the treatment of representatives from non-government organisations.
Representatives from a number of NGOs have reportedly been detained, had materials confiscated, and barred from distributing press releases and other information.
Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey from the Auckland University Faculty of Law has attended almost every WTO Ministerial Conference, and she says she has never seen the level of repression that she is seeing this year.
Kelsey spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
