>Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 14:26:49 -0700 >From: "David I. Hay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: FW: (wto) NEW BOOK ON WTO - NOW AVAILABLE!! >To: SPAN-List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of >Margrete Strand-Rangnes >Sent: October 19, 1999 2:22 PM >To: Multiple recipients of list MAI-NOT >Subject: (wto) NEW BOOK ON WTO - NOW AVAILABLE!! > > >NEW BOOK ON WTO - NOW AVAILABLE!! NEW BOOK ON WTO - NOW AVAILABLE!! > > THE 5 YEAR TRACK OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION > IN LANGUAGE ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE, NOT GATTese! > > >PUBLIC CITIZEN'S GLOBAL TRADE WATCH LAUNCHES NEW BOOK ON WHAT HAS BEEN >CALLED THE "MOST POWERFUL INSTITUTION OF THE 20TH CENTURY" > >ANNOUNCING: "Whose Trade Organization? Corporate Globalization and the >Erosion of Democracy" >Foreword by Ralph Nader >By Lori Wallach and Michelle Sforza, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch > > >Imagine a Central American country being forced to choose between >maintaining the UNICEF baby formula policy that has saved thousands of >children's lives or facing an expensive defense in a Swiss trade tribunal >and then possible trade sanctions for not protecting the trademark rights >of a corporation whose label violates the UNICEF code. > >Imagine a powerful corporation "renting" a WTO Member nation to pursue its >special interests - and kill a trade- based development policy - behind >closed doors in Geneva to the detriment of tens of thousands of peoples' >livelihoods and the rented country's own economic and security interests. > >Imagine, ten years of environmental activism reversed with the sweep of a >pen in Geneva, Switzerland, where a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel has >ruled that a law protecting endangered sea turtles poses an illegal barrier >to trade and several countries are now threatening new challenges against a >country's enforcement of international environmental treaties - this time >the Kyoto Treaty on climate change. > >Imagine, a clean air regulation designed to reduce gasoline emissions is >weakened because the WTO claims it could inadvertently hurt foreign gas >producers. > >Imagine, consumers forced by the WTO to choose between rescinding a >popular food safety law or facing economic sanctions. > >No need to imagine. These are but a handful of examples of the WTO's >real-life impacts on food safety, environmental conservation and protection >and economic development documented in WHOSE TRADE ORGANIZATION?. > >After a year of intensive research, Harvard educated trade lawyer and Global >Trade Watch Director Lori Wallach and Global Trade Watch Research Director >and trade policy analyst Michelle Sforza document the WTO's actual impact >on democratic governance, wages, jobs, economic growth, food security, >access to healthcare, food safety, labor rights and environmental >protection. With WHOSE TRADE ORGANIZATION, citizens, policymakers and public >interest advocates can learn the following: > >o How the WTO is used to pressure poor countries to abandon their > efforts to make desperately needed medications more affordable through > generic drugs and other policies. See page 119. > >o How the WTO is being used to attack a European proposal to cut > electronics pollution. See page 30. > >o How WTO rules may threaten U.S. school lunch and food stamp programs. > See page 164 > >o How WTO rules threaten millions with starvation by allowing > agribusiness companies to patent seeds created over generations in > villages around the world and then charge annual fees for the > subsistence farmers who developed the seeds to have the right to > plant them again. > >o How an individual with a monetary interest in a WTO case was > appointed to judge the case. See page 201. > >o How Daimler-Chrysler and Ford Motor Company are using WTO threats to > undermine a Japanese clean air law adopted under the Kyoto Protocol on > Climate Change. See page 31. > >o Why beleaguered U.S. steel workers may face a WTO challenge to > loan guarantees for the ailing U.S. steel industry. See page 157. > >o How WTO rules allow corporations to secure exclusive marketing rights > over medicinal remedies that have been used by indigenous groups for > centuries. See page 108. > >o How the threat of WTO action was used to pressure Guatemala to drop its > infant health law enacting the WHO/UNICEF Code on Marketing Breastmilk > Substitutes. See page 115. > >o How a major campaign contributor effectively rented the U.S. government > to mount a successful WTO challenge to Europe's preferences for Caribbean > bananas, even though the U.S. doesn't export a single banana. See page 141 > >WHOSE TRADE ORGANIZATION translates the WTO's jargony trade rules into >understandable prose for the layperson, policymaker and academic alike. It >is designed with the knowledge that WTO rules and rulings affect everyone >-- not just importers and trade lawyers -- and therefore must be accessible >to everyone, especially everyday citizens who want to resist WTO >encroachment into the decisions that affect their day-to-day lives. > >WHOSE TRADE ORGANIZATION is being released in advance of the WTO's November >29-December 3, 1999 Ministerial Summit in Seattle so that those who will >live with the results taken at that historic meeting are informed about the >potential consequences. The book makes the case -- bolstered by over 1,200 >citations from a vast range of sources -- for the review and repair of the >WTO so that it can no longer threaten the public safeguards and >corporate/governmental accountability standards that citizens have fought so >hard for. While the Clinton Administration is seeking expansion of the WTO's >jurisdiction through a new "round" of negotiations, Public Citizen is united >with civil society groups worldwide calling for the organization's sweeping >powers to be reined in, to put the tools of domestic policy decision making >back into the hands of citizens and their elected representatives. > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >"Whose Trade Organization" is available through > >Public Citizen >Publications Department >1600 20th Street, NW >Washington DC, 20009 >USA >1-800-289-3787 > >OR > >Fill out the order form on Public Citizen's Web-page: >http://www.citizen.org/pctrade/publications/wtobook.htm > >Price: $18.50 (includes shipping and handling) > >Bulk Rate: 20 or More Copies 40% off. > >ORDERS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES: >Orders must be pre-paid using a credit card or $U.S. money order made out to >Public Citizen. > >Canada $ 4.52 , + $15.00 book price = $ 19.52 > (includes shipping & handling) > >Mexico $ 9.66, + $15.00 book price = $ 24.66 > (includes shipping & handling) > >All other countries $15.00, + $15.00 book price = $30.00 > (includes shipping & handling) > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >Activist Group Public Citizen Joins Attack on WTO > > By John Burgess > Washington Post Staff Writer > Thursday, October 14, 1999; Page E01 > > One of the country's best-known activist groups joined in >the chorus of > voices criticizing the World Trade Organization yesterday, >suggesting the > international agency has led the United States and other >countries to > weaken their environmental, health and safety laws. > > The attack, coming one day after the AFL-CIO called for >more worker > participation in global trade talks scheduled for next >month in Seattle, > promised to turn up the heat on business groups and the >free-trade stance > taken by the Clinton administration. > > "The WTO is the final authority," said Joan Claybrook, >president of Public > Citizen, a consumer watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader. >"It can > require nations to change their laws and standards to >accommodate its > decisions made in secret proceedings by trade >officials--or else be subject > to severe economic sanctions." > > Claybrook said sovereign nations are being robbed of the >authority "to > enact basic protections for their own populations." > > U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky denied >Public Citizen's > charges, included in a 229-page report. "The United States >has not > relaxed any environmental law or health or safety law in >order to comply > with any WTO ruling," she said in an interview. > > Where changes to laws have been made, Barshefsky said, >they served > only to equalize treatment of U.S. and foreign companies. > > Public Citizen argued that the United States has softened >certain > provisions of the Clean Air Act involving gasoline, while >South Korea has > lowered meat safety regulations and Australia loosened >rules on the import > of raw salmon. > > The criticisms come as delegates from WTO member countries >prepare to > meet in Seattle next month to try to chart a new round of >global trade > negotiations. The group has more than 130 member >countries. > > Business groups and the Clinton administration say the WTO >brings "rule > of law" to trade disputes. That liberalizes trade between >nations, raising > living standards, and has helped fuel an economic boom in >the United > States. But some environmentalist groups contend that the >WTO has too > much power and is hurting living standards in many >countries. > > Many of the decisions that Public Citizen cites concern >one country > bringing an action at the WTO against a trading partner's >environmental, > health or safety rules. > > These challenges often involve a country claiming the real >function of such > consumer laws is to block the import of goods from other >countries. If a > WTO tribunal concludes that these laws are administered to >discriminate > against foreign suppliers, or that they lack scientific >basis, they can be > declared to violate the laws of world trade. > > U.S. officials argue that each country in the WTO retains >its sovereignty. > Countries can legally ignore unfavorable decisions, and >some do so. > However, they may to sanctions or forced to pay >compensation to trading > partners. > > But critics see the WTO as replacing the lawmaking >authority of individual > nations. > > Smaller countries have no choice but to go along with WTO >rulings or > merely the threat of WTO action, Public Citizen contends, >while large > countries tend to follow the WTO's wishes. > > Nader called the WTO a "super-national autocratic system . >. . that runs > courts that would be illegal in this country" because >their proceedings are > closed to public scrutiny. > > While its rulings are published, the internal >deliberations and presentations > of the opposing parties are kept secret. > > The United States promises that at the Seattle talks it >will push for more > openness in WTO deliberations. In a speech last night to >the Democratic > Leadership Council, President Clinton said that the WTO >had been seen > as a "private priesthood for experts" and now must open up >to hear the > views of diverse parties. > > Barshefsky pointed out that the Seattle schedule includes >a day in which > "nongovernmental organizations" such as labor unions and >consumer > groups will air their views. > > Among WTO decisions Public Citizen singled out for >criticism: > > * A ruling that U.S. gasoline import rules discriminated >against fuel made > in Venezuela and Brazil. Public Citizen said the United >States took steps in > response that it had previously dismissed as unenforceable >and costly. > Barshefsky said the United States merely changed the ways >in which > foreign gasoline producers reported data about their >products. > > * A finding that a European ban on the import of beef from > hormone-treated animals was illegal. Europe has ignored >the ruling and > continues to contend that the ban is necessary to protect >against potential > health problems. The United States, which exports the >meat, has argued > that there is no scientific justification for a ban on the >imports. > > * A ruling that South Korea's requirement that meat could >have only a > 30-day shelf life. Under the threat of WTO action, Korea >raised that limit > to 90 days, a change that foreign suppliers wanted. > > c 1999 The Washington Post Company > > > > >========================= > >NEW CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION! >On the Internet at http://www.tradewatch.org/publications/gtwpubs.htm >FOR MULTIPLE COPIES CONTACT PUBLIC CITIZEN 202-588-1000 OR GO TO >http://www.citizen.org/newweb/publicat.htm > >********************************** >In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed >without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the >included information for research and educational purposes. > >Margrete Strand Rangnes >MAI Project Coordinator >Public Citizen Global Trade Watch >215 Pennsylvania Ave, SE >Washington DC, 20003 USA >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >202-454-5106 >202-547 7392 (fax) > >To subscribe to our MAI Listserv send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or >subscribe directly by going to our website, >www.tradewatch.org (Please indicate organizational affiliation if any, and >also where you found out about this listserv) > >Search the MAI-NOT & MAI-INTL archives at http://lists.essential.org/ > > > > > > > ............................................. > Bob Olsen, Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ............................................. >
