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Action Briefing Aug 98/Sep 98
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Friends of the Earth Birmingham Action Briefing Aug 98/Sep 98 |
LICENCE TO LOOT PUT ON HOLD
Those of you who read the April/May Action Briefing will be aware that Friends of the Earth is one of a large number of organisations campaigning against the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment).This is a proposed agreement that gives privileges to foreign investors. Many aspects of the MAI seem to contradict existing agreements to protect environmental and social rights. Any attempt to incorporate these responsibilities has been strongly opposed by big business. Most notably the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) a multinationals lobbying group who effectively pull the strings of the global economy.
The increasing awareness of the agreement amongst campaigners has led to very strong pressure being put on governments to oppose a signing. The negotiators had set a deadline of May this year to reach a final agreement but again as last year the deal fell through. Even though governments are in favour of global liberalisation of investment in theory it becomes obvious that a lot of nationally important industries are vulnerable in this agreement. The list of exemptions is more than a thousand and growing. The MAI express train has ground to a halt.
This should not be seen as the end of the road. The dream of a global investment agreement continues with many in big business looking towards an agreement within the WTO(World Trade Organisation). At the moment discussions have taken place within the OECD(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). The OECD includes just the 29 most developed countries in the world. The WTO is a much bigger and powerful instrument for enforcing the changes wanted by TNCs. The WTO is the body set up to enforce the GATT(General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) a world-wide agreement that can be enforced by economic sanctions. An extension to include investment will be strongly pushed for.
You can read more about the MAI on the Internet at:
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~anp/mai.html
We are campaigning at a local level and I should be able to tell you about the progress made in the next issue.
David Dugmore
STOP PRESS:
New Early Day Motion tabled 24/6/98 (by Joan Walley MP) EDM 1466
Public and Parliamentary debate on the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)
That this house welcomes the Government’s commitment given in the OECD Ministerial Statement on the draft
Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) of 28 March 1998; concerning further assessment of, and consultation on, the agreement; calls on the government to fulfil it’s commitment to ‘a period of assessment and further consultation between negotiating parties and with interested parts of their societies’ (paragraph 3) through a debate in government parliamentary time; and for the Government, Parliamentarians and Select Committees to use the ‘period of assessment’ to rigorously scrutinise the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and it’s interface with sustainable development strategy, the International Development White Paper, EU, the Ethical Foreign Policy, local democracy, Scottish and Welsh devolution and existing multilateral agreements related to the environment, labour standards and human rights.
Please right to your MP asking him/her to support the above Early Day Motion. Please pass your response/s on to us, if possible, so we can see whether they support/oppose the MAI and whether their view has changed.