WTO tidbits: Philip Morris vs Canada Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [Since Philip Morris can threaten Canada with NAFTA, why can't Canada use NAFTA to stop US persecution of Canadian companies and citizens trading with Cuba?] source - MichaelP http://attac.org/attacinfoen/attacnews129.zip SAND IN THE WHEELS (#129) ATTAC Weekly newsletter - Wednesday 22/05/02 Please circulate and distribute. The Newsletter is received by 10 728 direct subscribers today. To subscribe or unsubscribe: http://attac.org/indexen/ 4- WTO Tidbits ____________________________________________________________ By the Attac work group on international treaties, Marseilles 1) Philip Morris Int. defies the Canadian government, invoking the Nafta agreement and the Trips Reacting to a Canadian government proposal to prohibit the use of terms like "light" and "mild" on cigarette packets, PMI affirmed that such measures would contravene a certain number of Canada's international trading obligations, and could therefore lead to prosecution. PMI quotes articles 1105 (unfair treatment) and 1110 (measures amounting to an expropriation of reasonable hopes of profit) from Chapter 11 of the Nafta treaty, dealing with investments. They also invoke Art.20 of the WTO's Trips agreement (unjustified obstacle to the use of a trademark by particular obligations) and on Art. 2.2 of the Technical Obstacles to Trade agreement (a ruling that creates an unnecessary obstacle to trade and fails to use the least trade-restrictive method). PMI state that they will uphold the labelling obligations establishing that the "light" cigarettes have not been proved to be safer than the others (according to a survey, 1/3 of smokers choose "light" varieties for health reasons) 2) Mandate of the Commission for the Negotiation of Regional Economic Partnerships with ACP countries This mandate, which provides a strategy for reciprocal negotiations with the EU, and economic policy agreements in accordance with WTO rulings for trade liberaliztion and competition, is now due to receive the approval of the 15 European states. A certain number of European NGOs manifested their anxiety that this strategy might give rise to a scenario in which ACP countries not in a position to negotiate reciprocal agreements could find themselves less well-placed than the others for access to the European market. 3) Reserves are expressed by NGOs at the 6th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (April 2001) The NGO meeting demanded that the Parties make an unambiguous declaration condemning any patenting of life-forms. In their joint declaration, the NGOs stressed that "globalisation led by multinational companies and the models they impose" was the basic cause of the loss of biodiversity, and pointed to the role of the WTO as "the main instigator of this economic model by which companies exercise control over governments." They expressed their concern that the result of the 4th Ministerial Conference at Doha might be to ruin the implementation of the Convention on Biodiversity, and insisted that the Parties "take up the challenge and protect their Convention against the WTO and all other forms of company-led globalisation." 4) Indonesia plans to outlaw exports of wood from its forests This country intends to impose a permanent ban on wood exports, in order to protect its tropical forests. The government representative declared that he would begin by extending the temporary ban imposed last October and now reaching its term. At the same time, he would discuss permanent measures with the IMF with which the country is presently engaged in talks to obtain a $5 billion loan conditional upon economic reforms touching all sectors. In 1980, Indonesia had already taken measures to impose a ban, which it had subsequently transformed into a supertax of 200% on exports, so as to protect local industry and encourage forestry exports with a high added value. However, in the context of an agreement signed with the IMF in 1998, these taxes were reduced to 10% at the end of 2000, a measure denounced by environmental groups as a boost to illicit logging for export. 5) Local US authorities call on the Senate to modify the fast-track legislation These local officials (among them the US Mayoral Conference, the Association of Attorneys and the National Counties Association) urged the Senate to modify the legislation so as to prevent, in coming trade negotiations, investor-versus-state disputes from impairing local autonomy and resulting in the granting of compensation rights to investors in excess of those accorded to local investors. In a letter dated March 21st to the Senate Majority Leader, the Mayoral Conference explains that "the text on the protection of investors, Ruling 3005 of the Chamber, is so wide and unlimited that it could allow trade authorities to include norms of investment protection which go further than US regulations and could have the effect of giving foreign investors more rights than US citizens." Particularly singled out are the costly protections against expropriations (which would be settled in international courts), and the paralysing effect which such judgements could have on the autonomy of local institutions. It is thus not surprising that the National Manufacturers' Association is engaged in intensive lobbying of the US Trade Representative. In a letter (April 4th), this body declares that it "would absolutely fail to understand" if changes were effected in these rulings with the aim of watering down the definition of norms for expropriation. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytenv-05.24.02-23:42:15-11346