-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary.asp?f=990831/67261 <<E-Mail-able>> > Tuesday, August 31, 1999 > > Global rules could paralyze us > > > > Maude Barlow > National Post > > > The dominant development model of our time is economic globalization, a system > fuelled by the belief that a single global economy with universal rules set by > global corporations and financial markets is inevitable. Everything is for sale, > even those areas of life once considered sacred. Increasingly, these services > and resources are controlled by a handful of transnational corporations that > shape national and international law to suit their interests. At the heart of > this transformation is an all-out assault on virtually every public sphere of > life, including the democratic underpinning of our legal systems. > > The most important tool in this assault has been the creation of international > trade agreements whose tribunals and enforcement measures supersede the legal > systems of nation-states and supplant their judicial processes by setting up > independent dispute resolution systems that exist outside the confines of their > courts and their laws. > > For instance, the North American Free Trade Agreement gave American corporations > Chapter 11, the first "investor state clause" in any international agreement. > For the first time, a corporation can sue a foreign government if that > government enacts any law, practice or measure that negatively affects the > company's profits or reputation, even if that law, practice or measure has been > enacted by a democratic legislature for legitimate environmental, social, health > or safety reasons. > > There are several active Chapter 11 cases now in process. The first was lodged > by Ethyl Corp. of Virginia, when Canada legislated a ban on the cross-border > sale of MMT -- which Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, called a dangerous > neurotoxin -- and Ethyl sued the Canadian government for $350-million in damages > for lost future profit. Rather than allow the case to go to a NAFTA panel where > it feared it would lose, the Canadian government reversed its ban in July, 1998, > paid Ethyl $20-million in compensation for its "trouble," and gave the company a > letter of apology containing a statement that there is no scientific evidence > MMT poses a threat to human health or the environment. > > The first NAFTA Chapter 11 case on water was filed in the fall of 1998. Sun Belt > Water Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., is suing the Canadian government because > the company lost a contract to export water to California when the government of > British Columbia banned the export of bulk water in 1991. Although Sun Belt's > agreement was with a Canadian company, Snowcap, and not the B.C. government, Sun > Belt alleges the ban contravenes NAFTA and is seeking $400-million in damages. > The corporation understands NAFTA gives it the right to shape Canadian > government policy. "Because of NAFTA, we are now stakeholders in the national > water policy in Canada," declared Jack Lindsay, its chief executive. > > The other major global institution that is swiping national legal jurisdictions > is the World Trade Organization. The WTO enforces a number of international > trade agreements on goods, services, intellectual property rights, food safety, > animal and plant health, financial services, food, agriculture policy, > investment, technology and telecommunications. > > What makes the WTO so powerful is that it has both the legislative and judicial > authority to challenge laws, policies and programs of countries that do not > conform to WTO rules and strike them down if they are seen to be too "trade > restrictive." Cases are decided -- in secret -- by a panel of three trade > bureaucrats. Once a WTO ruling is made, worldwide conformity is required. A > country is obligated to harmonize its laws or face the prospect of perpetual > trade sanctions or fines. > > The WTO, which contains no minimum standards to protect the environment, labour > rights, social programs or cultural diversity, has already been used to strike > down a number of key nation-state environmental, food safety and human rights > laws. Recently, U.S. laws to protect endangered Asian sea turtles from shrimp > nets and dolphins from drift nets have been successfully challenged at the WTO. > All WTO agreements set out detailed rules intended to constrain the extent to > which governments can regulate international trade, or otherwise "interfere" > with the activities of large corporations. WTO agreements provide extensive > lists of things governments can't do. > > Says U.S.-based Public Citizen, "The emerging case law indicates that the WTO > keeps raising the bar against environmental laws." Renato Ruggiero, the former > WTO secretary-general, has admitted environmental standards in the WTO are > "doomed to fail and could only damage the global trading system." Another WTO > official was quoted in the Financial Times in April, 1998, saying, "The WTO is > the place where governments collude in private against their domestic pressure > groups." Democracy is a fragile creature. Through massive privatization and > deregulation, people all over the world have already lost control over many > areas of social and environmental policy. Now, backed by the International > Chamber of Commerce that wants to establish a binding global legal system to > protect transnational corporate interests, citizens are losing their democratic > rights to a fair, open and just legal system as well. > > Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of The Council of Canadians. > Copyright © Southam Inc. All rights reserved. >From http://www.tradewatch.org/publications/gtwpubs.htm ><>< Note: 'For More Information' or 'Available on the Web' means there's a hot linque at the site ><>< > Global Trade Watch > Publications List > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > Non-profit groups and individual consumers are eligible for discount prices. > Please contact the Public Citizen Publications Office for more information: > 1-800-289-3787 or (202)588-1000. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > MAI NAFTA WTO Globalization > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > MAI > > > > The Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the Threat to American Freedom by > Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke - For More Information > > The MAI Shell Game > The MAI principles are at the core of a multifaceted effort by speculators and > footloose multinational corporations to remove public interest regulation on > their activity. There are many venues in which they are simultaneously pursuing > this agenda. These include the WTO, the proposed NAFTA expansion Free Trade Area > of the Americas (FTAA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the TransAtlantic > Economic Partnership (TEP), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) > forum. - Available on the Web > > MAI Analysis > This analysis of the MAI is divided into two parts. The first will explain core > MAI provisions as they appear in the most recent version of the MAI text. We > consider provisions that the negotiating countries have agreed upon to be "core > provisions." Some undecided elements of these provisions remain in the April > 1998 text. We note these and describe changes that have been made relative to > past texts. In the second part, the list of proposals submitted by different > countries and the OECD on environmental, labor and other issues are analyzed. - > Available on the Web > > Annotated MAI Text > The April 1998 MAI Text with Full Annotation. Trade lawyer Lori Wallach went > page by page through the MAI text and wrote interpretive notes in the margins. > This is an empowering tool for understanding the substance of the MAI. > > Pocket Trade Lawyer Guide by Lori Wallach, Juris Doctor, Harvard Law School The > most important tool to making an informed judgment about the MAI is the ability > to understand what the MAI's proposed terms mean. This guide to MAI language is > intended to launch a countering educational offensive so people can read the > actual MAI text and come to their own conclusions about its merits and threats. > - Available on the Web > > MAI Free Zone Organizing Packet > An in-depth packet of information and resources for passing an MAI Free Zone in > you city/county council. There is no more effective strategy for countering the > MAI at this time. email the MAI Coordinator > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > NAFTA > > Deals for NAFTA Votes > > > > Deals for NAFTA Votes: Trick, No Treat, October 1997; #E8646, $10 > Trick, No Treat examines "retail" deals the Clinton Administration promised > members of Congress to protect particular industries or grant favors in order to > pass NAFTA. The report shows how, four years latter, many of these promises were > broken or proved to be worthless. - Available on the Web > > Deals for NAFTA Votes II: Bait and Switch, November 1997; #E8654, $10 > Bait and Switch looks at "wholesale" deals the Clinton Administration promised > members of Congress to change policies about the environment and labor rights in > order to pass NAFTA. The report shows how, fours years latter, many of these > promises were broken or proved to be worthless. - Available on the Web > > > > Deals for NAFTA Votes: Trick, No Treat and Bait and Switch (see description > above), 1997; #E5557, $15 > > > > NAFTA's Broken Promises Series > > > > NAFTA's Broken Promises: Fast Track to Unsafe Food, September 1997; #E5556, $10 > This report shows how "fast tracked" trade agreements such as NAFTA have > undermined the safety of the U.S. food supply. It shows that imports of > dangerous food have increased under NAFTA, and that NAFTA's rules have impaired > the government's ability to regulate food safety. - Available on the Web > > NAFTA's Broken Promises: Failure to Create U.S. Jobs, February 1997; #E8859, $10 > NAFTA's Three Year Reality: Spiraling Job Loss and Trade Deficits Instead of Job > Creation. This report exposes NAFTA's failure to create the new jobs promised by > the pact's corporate and governmental promoters. - Available on the Web > > NAFTA's Broken Promises: The Border Betrayed 1996, January 1996; #E8034, $15 > This study examines increased water and air pollution, increased illegal dumping > of hazardous waste and additional industrial concentration along the U.S./Mexico > border resulting from NAFTA. Available only on the Web > > The Failed Experiment: NAFTA at Three Years, June 1997; #E5555, $5 > This study, prepared by Public Citizen, the Economic Policy Institute, and other > organizations concerned with the impact of trade on working families and the > environment, examines NAFTA's track record after three years of operation. The > report finds that NAFTA resulted in downward pressure on U.S. wages, massive > trade deficits, thousands of jobs lost, hundreds of weakened environmental > regulation and enforcement, increased imports on economic collapse in Mexico, > and unsafe food, the undermining of workers' rights to organize. - Available on > the Web > > > > Trading Away U.S. Food Safety, 1994, $20 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > World Trade Organization > > A Citizen's Guide to the World Trade Organization: Everything You Need to Know > to Fight for Fair Trade, August, 1999; #E5563, $2 - Also Available on the Web > > Comments of Public Citizen Regarding U.S. Preparations for the WTO's 1999 > Ministerial Meeting - Available on the Web > > WTO European Union Beef Hormone Amicus Brief - Available Only on the Web > > WTO Venezuela Gas Amicus Brief > > International Harmonization of Standards Briefing Paper by Lori Wallach > Over the past two decades, new international trade and investment rules of > unprecedented scope and power, coupled with massive changes in business > practices and organizations, have resulted in an astonishing transformation. > This new arrangement is often labeled "economic globalization." In addition to > its economic effects, globalization has major implications for domestic > governance, and thus for public health, economic development, social and > environmental policy. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > Globalization > > The New Protectionism, Protecting the Future Against Free Trade > by Tim Lang & Colin Hines, with a forward by Jim Hightower - For More > Information > > The Case Against Free Trade > A collection of articles designed to clarify the "global economy," and explore > the affects on our lives. Includes "GATT, NAFTA and the Subversion of the > Democratic Process," a chapter by Ralph Nader and Lori Wallach. Order on-line or > try your local book store > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > To order one of these publications, please call (202) 588-1000 or (800) 289-3787 > > > > > > <Picture> > > > > Global Trade Watch Home Page A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." --Buddha + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." 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