Here are some excerpts from David Weston's Global Brain No. 172. (If you do not receive Global Brain via e-mail and would like to, please reply to AVID and your request will be forwarded.)
Business and Industry Advisory Council slams MAI
Friday, January 16, 1998
OECD advisory panel slams proposed investment treaty
BY JOHN MAGGS JOURNAL OF COMMERCE STAFF
[Some of the BIAC's objections are:]
... OECD members are refusing to liberalize their investment restrictions. For example, France and Canada are insisting on preserving exemptions to help preserve national "culture," something U.S. officials claim is disguised protectionism.
[AVID's Note: Canada's original motive for entering into FTA negotiations was supposedly to crack U.S. *undisguised* protectionism, which we did not succeed in doing. Furthermore, Canada is reportedly relying on France to carry the torch on this one, but France is reportedly using this merely as a bargaining position and only cares in the end about protecting itself from a full onslaught of American television.]
... New proposals would cite minimum levels of environmental and labor standards, scaring off some poorer countries who say they cannot afford the higher standards of advanced economies.
[AVID recalls that the OECD does not include "poorer" countries, and that one Bangla Deshi delegate to the Kyoto conference on global warming spoke of large-scale solar energy projects in his country - way ahead of Canada.]
Watered-down protections for expropriation and investor-government dispute settlement.
[The BIAC appears to want to scrap the MAI because countries are wavering and it won't be draconian enough. Watch for the new, "better" ideas...]
... The NY Times reports international agreements "on everything from drug testing procedures to food safety standards are driven largely by business interests most affected." But what are the remaining obstructions? Paula Stern, former chair of the U.S. International Trade commission, provided the answer in testimony to the Congress. Ms. Stern pointed to "obstacles" like "strong grass-roots citizens organizations and their Congressional champions" who are both "retarding or even blocking regulatory reform." (NYT 1/9)