Posted by WTO Watch Qld on August 4, 2002 at 00:13:39:
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Many officials and ministers clearly feel that they fulfil their commitments
to transparency and open government merely by working in offices with
windows.
ZNet Commentary
Still Under Wraps: Official Information Laws Keep Free Trade Details Away
From Prying Public Eyes March 05, 2002
By Aziz Choudry
1) COMING EVENTS
2) GATS UPDATE
a) US telecommunications GATS requests
b) France Considers re-nationalising France Telecom
c) GATS Impact on Education in Cnada
d) Australian Companies Lobby for GATS
e) From Global to Local-GATS Impacts on Local Government
3) WATER UPDATE
a) Mass Rally in Kerala, India, against Coca-cola
b) India----Privatisation of a River
4) US CONGRESS GRANTS PRESIDENT FAST TRACK TRADE NEGOTIATING AUTHORITY
a) media release
b) Letter to the Minister for Trade re US-Australia free trade agreement.
5) FOCUS ON THE WTO AND FOOD IRRADIATION
a) NZ Company pushing for Food Irradiation
b) Press release re delayed Decision on Food Irradiation Standards
c) Sample Letter to ANZFA re the Irradiaton of Tropical Fruits
======================================================
1) COMING EVENTS
HIROSHIMA DAY RALLY and PEACE MARCH
12.30 - 3 pm Sunday 4th August, King George Square
Speakers include:
Dr Rachel Darken MAPW (Medical Assoc for Prevention of
War)
Fran Jell spokesperson for the STOP STERITECH CAMPAIGN
(Campaign to stop the Narangba nuclear irradiation plant)
Representatives from:
AABCC (Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition)
Atomic Ex-Servicemens Association A.C.T. Inc.
Entertainment<>Childrens Activities<>Stalls <> Street Theatre
Peace and Social Justice stallholders are invited to
set up a stall.
Contact Joan 3371 3640 jshears@powerup.com.au
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AUGUST 7 (Weds) NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION against Food Irradiation - Narangba
Nuclear Plant PICKET. SUNRISE - 6am on! Work is well underway at the plant
site with footings for the building being poured and preparations being
made for the big slab pour...Let's get out there and show the company and
the nation that this is UNACCEPTABLE! Show your support for the picket line
and STOP work at Steritech site on the day submissions against the
irradiation of Tropical Fruit are due to ANZFA and in between Hiroshima and
Nagasaki Days - the government knows that the Nuclear Industry Send your subsmissions
to ANzfa on or by this date too!
Camp: Spend a night or two up at Narangba Protest camp - it's fun &
meaningful! Get on the Roster! Camp meetings every Tuesday evening.
For more information about any of the above: ENuFF- Brisbane 0411 118 737
or stopfialliance@yahoo.com.au
======================================================
2) GATS UPDATE
a)
(ED: Bulletin readers will be aware that countries submitted their GATS requests for deregulation in the services sector a few weeks ago.
Is it just co-incidence that the debate about the sell off of Telstra has begun again?)
The USTR (United States Trade Representative) has published a summary of their GATS requests.
http://www.ustr.gov/ or
media release: http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/07/02-63.htm
and Executive Summary:
http://www.ustr.gov/sectors/services/2002-07-01-proposal-execsumm.PDF
"Telecommunications
The United States is requesting increased access for telecommunications
services, including basic and value-added services. In addition, the
United States requests that WTO members adopt commitments in the WTO
Basic Telecommunications Reference Paper, which sets out a number of key
pro-competitive regulatory obligations. In addition, the United States
may urge members who have not fully privatized their incumbent
telecommunications carrier to do so in the near future. The United
States also is requesting commitments in cable network services, defined
as owning or leasing cable facilities for the distribution of video
programming services.
--------------------------------------------------
b) Paris looks at renationalising France Telecom
By Jo Johnson in Paris
Published: June 30 2002 21:59 | Last Updated: July 1 2002 11:39
The French government is prepared to contemplate renationalising
France Telecom if market sentiment towards the national operator does
not improve, according to government sources this weekend.
The sources said such a move, although politically controversial,
could be a "defensible" solution to the heavily-indebted company's
crisis of confidence with the capital markets and would be preferable
to a huge rights issue at the current deflated share price.
Taking partially-privatised France Telecom back into state ownership
would come months after the UK government took back control of
Railtrack, the railway infrastructure company, from shareholders.
The collapse in value of what was once France's flagship
privatisation, with more than 1.5m small shareholders, is a sensitive
political issue for Mr Raffarin.
France Telecom shares have fallen 79 per cent this year, to E9.43
from their October 1997 offer price of E27.75 as the
telecommunications industry's growth prospects fell dramatically
after a period of costly over-expansion.
The shares rallied on Monday as investors reacted to the possibility
of a renationalisation, rising 16.6 per cent to E11.
"The state has no intention of letting things drift, but we cannot
remain indifferent to what is happening to France Telecom shares and
bond yields," a government source said.
"From an intellectual and financial point of view, buying the
minority would be defensible. We have no solution to the problem
ready in our pockets and, if we were actually going to do that, we
would not tell you. But we are unhappy with the current situation and
it must be corrected."
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c) GATS Impact on Education in Canada
A legal opinion released October 29, 2001, warns Canada's public education
system is at risk.
Proponents of the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) claim
education and other public services are excluded from the treaty, but the
opinion concludes this protection is "unclear" and will be "narrowly
interpreted." This explicitly contradicts Canada's position that education
services are "largely beyond the scope of the GATS" and also runs contrary
to statements made by WTO officials, including Director General Michael
Moore.
The legal opinion was commissioned by the British Columbia Teachers
Federation, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (British Columbia), the
Canadian Association of University Teachers, and the Canadian Federation of
Students.
http://www.caut.ca/english/issues/trade/gats-opinion.asp
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d) Australian Companies lobby for GATS (AFTINET Bulletin No 40, July 8,
2002)
Australian services firms have established the Australian Services
Roundtable to promote their services interests and pursue services
liberalization in multilateral and regional trade negotiations. In
addition, the Australian National University has established a Services
Industries Research Centre to provide research and distribute information
relevant to the services sector. The Roundtable is composed of industry
representatives at Chief Executive Officer level from a very broad range of
services firms. Sectors represented include financial services (banking,
insurance, securities), professional services (accounting, legal, consulting
engineers, consulting architects), health service providers, export
education services, tourism, information technology, telecommunications,
transport, food distribution, audio-visual, media and other business
services.
------------------------------------------------
e) "From global to local: GATS---Impacts on Canadian Municipalities"
The 51 page report may be downloaded from www.policyalternatives.ca
"Municipalities supply basic and essential public services which may be
affected by the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).This
paper examines the GATS potential impacts on municipal water and sewage
services,waste management,land use planning,transportation,libraries,and
office administrative services in Canada.
It also considers the impact of the GATS on the proposals of the Federa-
tion of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for urban sustainability and infrastruc-
ture planning for the future."
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3) WATER UPDATE
a) MASS RALLY AND PUBLIC MEETING, KERALA, INDIA
DATE: AUGUST 4
Participants: Local people around 2000. Representatives from across
the State. participants from outside the state as Delhi, Punjab,
Andhra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka etc have confirmed.
Background:
The indefinite struggle against Coca Cola at Plachimada was launched
on April 22. Since then there has been an ongoing dharna in front of
the factory gate at Plachimada mainly led by the Adivasis of the area
- Eravalar and Malasar. The factory has dried the acquifers within 2
years drawing 15 lakh litres of water per day (Coca Cola claims that
only 6 lakh litres are drawn daily). Water has been so polluted that the
water is not potable nor can it be used for washing or bathing. Coca
Cola has been using threat and intimidation with support from local
politicians. So far about 300 people have been arrested and a number of
women injured in police attack. The demand is that the Coca Cola
restore the environmet, pay compensation, close down the factory and
quit the country. The fundamental issue is the issue of primary rights
of water by the people. Instead natural resources are sold to MNCs and
global capital under globalisation. This is also a struggle against
globalisation and imperialism.
Veloor Swaminathan
Convenor
Coca-Cola Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithy (Anti Coca Cola Peoples
Struggle Committee)
Plachimada
Kannimari P.O
Palakkad District
Kerala
India 678 534
---------------------------------------------------------
29 July 2002
Subject: Privatising a river
When the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that "the
cornerstone of the new National Water Policy should be an explicit
recognition that water is a national resource and ...the policy should also
recognise that the community is the rightful custodian of water," we
thought what he meant by the word 'community' was the people of the area or
region where the river flowed.
We were wrong. The newly-formed Chhattisgarh State has privatised water
supply from a semi-perennial river Sheonath. This is the first case of
river water being handed over to private interests in India.
For a news report from Sunday Express, New Delhi, about how
private enterprise harnesses a river in Chhattisgarh to rake in big bucks,
and also the text of the Prime Minister's speech at the fifth
meeting of the National Water Resources Council at New Delhi on April 1, 2002.
visit this link http://www.agbioindia.org
=========================================
4)
a) US CONGRESS GRANTS PRESIDENT FAST TRACK
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Chris Slevin (202) 454-5140
July 27, 2002 3:00 a.m.
Midsummer Night's Massacre: Controversial 304-page 'Trade' Bill Few Have Read Is Rammed Through Congress at 3:30 AM
by Razor Thin Margin
Statement of Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch:
This travesty of a vote will be remembered as the Midsummer Night's Massacre, where growing popular concern about corporate-led globalization was shot down in favor of a backwards policy combining corporate managed trade and global deregulation of basic consumer, environmental and other public interest standards.
Over the past decade, public opposition to NAFTA-style trade deals has grown so strong that now the only way to move this policy is to ram through at 3:00 a.m. in the dark of night 304 pages of legislation combining five different trade bills which was unavailable for public or congressional review until hours before the vote.
This Fast Track bill is supposed to set the next five years of U.S. trade and globalization policy. If U.S. negotiators follow the outrageous agenda in this bill, including a 31-nation NAFTA expansion and global deregulation of food safety, accounting, energy and other standards, the resulting agreements would be dead on arrival in Congress and in the court of public opinion.
A tidal wave of hypocrisy ripped through Washington's wee hours. It has been a tawdry spectacle to watch the GOP House leadership and President Bush ramming through a 'trade' bill which has as its main agenda promoting massive global corporate deregulation just hours after crowing about passage of new regulations aimed at the corporate crime wave caused by the very sort of deregulation this bill promotes globally.
The trade package included authorization to negotiate a 31-nation Free Trade Area of the Americas NAFTA expansion, new limits on enforcement of labor or environmental standards in trade agreements, a modest Trade Adjustment Assistance program, and an expansion to more nations of the investor-to-state lawsuits of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which allows foreign corporations to challenge domestic regulatory standards before trade tribunals if they limit future expected profits.
Timi Gerson
Organizer/FTAA Coordinator
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
215 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Washington DC, 20003 USA
tgerson@citizen.org & www.tradewatch.org
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b) Now that the US President has fast track negotiating authority (which means that Congress can vote 'yes' or 'no' on trade bills, but cannot amend them), a US-Australia free trade agreement is possible. The following letter, basd on a letter prepared by the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET) explains the issues for Australia. Please copy and paste into new email and send to mark.vaile.mp@aph.gov.au with a cc to S.Crean.MP@aph.gov.au
The Hon. Mark Vaile MP
Minister for Trade
Parliament House
Canberra
Dear Mr Vaile
I write to express grave concern that, following the granting of fast track trade negotiating authority to the US President, it is possible that talks may begin on a US- Australia Free Trade Agreement. There has been little public debate or community consultation on this issue.
I am concerned that such a bilateral trade negotiation places Australia in a very weak bargaining position given the relative sizes of the US
and Australian economies.
I am alarmed at your comments reported in the Sydney Morning Herald of April 4, 2001, that Australia's local content rules in film and television,
quarantine rules, and foreign investment rules are all seen as US targets in the negotiations, and that Australia would not ask for any
prior exclusions at the start of the talks. Is that still your government's position?
The local content rules are a vital pillar of Australia's cultural identity which ensures that Australian stories are told on film and
television. These rules ensure a local skills base which enables quality films and television programs to be made here.
How can we contemplate reducing quarantine rules in the wake of the Mad Cow and Foot and Mouth disease scares? Australia has investment
restrictions only on a few strategic industries like the media, banking ,telecommunications and airlines. If these were to go, all of these
industries would be vulnerable to US takeover.
All of these trade offs would be unacceptable in terms of Australian culture, health and safety, public interest and economic independence.
It seems most fanciful beyond belief that the powerful US farm lobby, flush with their increased subsidies, would ever agree to access for Australia's agricultural produce into the US market. Given the uncertainty of any outcome beneficial to Australia, I urge you to suspend any negotiations pending full community consultations.
Yours sincerely,
(Add name and address)
=========================================
5) FOCUS ON THE WTO and FOOD IRRADIATION
a) NZ Company Pushes for Food Irradiation
New Zealand Herald
23.02.2002
By JAMES GARDINER
Auckland company Turners & Growers has joined the United States firm pushing
to bring irradiated food into New Zealand and Australia.
Turners & Growers of Mt Wellington, a century old and the largest importer
of fruit and vegetables in Australasia, is the majority shareholder in a
joint company with SureBeam Corporation of San Diego, and is looking for
other backers.
They want to build a $10 million irradiation plant in Queensland this year
and, if they can win over the public and politicians, seek approval to build
a plant in New Zealand.
No irradiated foods have yet been sold in either country but the
intergovernmental food authority Anzfa lifted a total ban in 1999, cleared
the way for irradiated herbs and spices a year later, and is considering an
application from SureBeam to irradiate Queensland tropical fruit as a
pest-control measure.
The Green Party and environmentalists Friends of the Earth are worried about
the health implications of irradiating foods.
Proponents and opponents agree that, if successful, the Queensland
application will help clear the way for both countries to import and export
irradiated food.
Environmentalists have battled for 16 years to stop an irradiation plant
being built in New Zealand.
Long-time opponent Bob Tait, of Friends of the Earth, conceded that the
SureBeam method of using electron beams and x-rays, powered by electricity,
had advantages over the traditional gamma rays produced from a radioactive
material such as cobalt.
"There's no risk of leakage at the facility or a transport accident, but it
will have the same effect on food as a gamma ray."
Green Party food and health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said irradiation by any
method changed the molecular structure of food, creating unique chemicals,
and the long-term effects on human health had not been adequately
researched.
"It's a controversial technology with serious question-marks surrounding it.
If we can get these fruits from other places, do we really need it?"
Turners & Growers' involvement was revealed this month in a press release
circulated only in the United States.
Managing director Don Turner said his company had followed the irradiation
debate and had satisfied itself there was no risk to human health. "In 25
years no problem has ever been detected."
SureBeam's technology now made irradiation cost-effective provided consumer
resistance could be overcome.
Turners & Growers would hope to import several million dollars worth of
irradiated Queensland fruit a year, mainly mangos, which were high-quality
and likely to be competitively priced, he said.
If successful, the next step would be to irradiate New Zealand apples and
kiwifruit for export.
A study of New Zealanders' and Australians' perceptions of irradiation, done
last year by HortResearch in Auckland, found they had little knowledge of
the technology, were suspicious and thought it would be dangerous.
They did not trust one-sided material and doubted information from overseas
sources such as the American Medical Association or the Food and Drug
Administration.
* james_gardiner@herald.co.nz
(ED: Now that irradiation of food has been approved in Australia, under WTO rules we will no longer be able to refuse to import produce on the grounds that it has been irradiated.)
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b)
March 21, 2002
Delayed Decision on International Food Irradiation Standard a Positive Step
Controversy and Safety Concerns Deter Government Delegations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The delay of a standard that would allow companies worldwide to irradiate food at unlimited doses is a positive sign for consumers.
Last week, government, industry and consumer delegates participating in the 34th Meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) in the Netherlands postponed until next year a proposal to amend a 23-year-old international food irradiation standard. The decision to postpone it was in response to widespread controversy and concerns over safety.
A draft revision of the standard includes removal of the current 10 kiloGray (kGy) dose limit on food irradiation, a drastic measure opposed by consumer groups, the European Community (EC) and concerned scientists.
The Codex Commission sets global food safety standards for more than 170 nations, and its rulings are enforceable by the World Trade Organization (WTO). If Codex were to approve the proposed changes to the standard, it is conceivable that trade disputes could arise that challenge national standards for food safety.
Current U.S. regulations allow certain foods to be irradiated at doses ranging from 1 to 7.5 kGy. The maximum 10 kGy limit set by Codex is the equivalent of about 330 million chest X-rays. Food exposed to higher levels of ionizing energy can suffer significant changes in flavor, texture, odor, nutritional integrity and chemical composition.
"Until the risks involved with food irradiation are resolved, governments should be wary of allowing a free-for-all," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The approval of this proposal could result in an international health scandal of untold proportions. This is not about food safety. The irradiation industry is lobbying for this change because high-level irradiation is more cost-effective for it. Once again, the bottom line is being valued over the health and safety of citizens around the globe."
Poland and the European Community (EC) have objected to the proposed deletion of the 10 kGy limit, citing concerns over the safety of irradiated foods. Many new and unknown chemicals are created as by-products of food irradiation, and one class of them, cyclobutanones, has been found to cause cellular and genetic damage in human and rat cells.
The EC opposes the draft revision while further scientific advice is pending and to this end has commissioned research on the toxicity of these chemicals. The EC's Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) is currently evaluating the recently finished report. A summary of the study indicates that cyclobutanones "exhibit some toxic effects including promotion of colon carcinogenesis in rats." When Public Citizen requested the entire study, it was told that the report is confidential and that there are no plans for it to be published or peer-reviewed.
The Codex Commission failed to discuss the food irradiation standard proposal at its annual meeting last July and transferred responsibility to the Executive Committee, which endorsed the proposal behind closed doors in September and advanced it to the next step in Codex's adoption procedures.
The SCF met this February, two weeks before CCFAC convened to discuss the cyclobutanone study but delayed issuing a scientific opinion to allow for further review. This acknowledgment of the complex scientific concerns involved, coupled with the numerous and divergent comments submitted to CCFAC, forced the committee to freeze the approval process for this standard. Delaying approval should allow CCFAC the opportunity to investigate the wider ramifications it could have on the health of the world's population as well as the credibility of the governments and parties that sponsor such a controversial standard.
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c) Submission to ANZFA re Irradiation of Tropical Fruits
Submission: Draft Assessment Report (Full Assessment - S.15)
Application A443 Irradiation Of Tropical Fruits
Breadfruit, Carambola, Custard Apple, Litchi, Longan, Mango, Mangosteen,
Papaya and Rambutan
Date:
Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA)
PO Box 7186
Canberra Mail Centre ACT 2610
Australia
Email: info@anzfa.gov.au
Dear ANZFA
I am writing to request that the Draft Assessment Report for Application
A443 Irradiation Of Tropical Fruits is amended to completely reject Application A443 by American Irradiation
Company Surebeam and to place a permanent ban on food irradiation.
I am opposed to the irradiation of tropical fruit:
-Recent studies on food irradiation have shown that a chemical generated by
irradiation 2-dodecylcyclobutanone (2DCB) causes significant DNA damage.
2-DCB is a unique irradiated product of palmitic acid, an acid that is found
in large quantities in most fruits and vegetables. Studies have found
2-DCB in irradiated mangoes and papayas.
-Scientific tests have shown irradiation is ineffective in killing insects
and extending the shelf life of fruit. The dosages of ionising radiation
needed to kill insects such as fruit fly are too high for most fruits to
tolerate. With low dosages, insects are still alive after irradiation.
Irradiated fruit are damaged from water loss and softened tissues, and are
more sensitive to refrigeration and bruising in transport.
-For quarantine purposes, cold treatment is a positive alternative to
irradiation. It is safer and cheaper and does not cause noticeable changes
to the fruit. Cold treatment also meets quarantine requirements of other
countries such as New Zealand.
If Application A443 is approved, nuclear irradiation company Steritech Pty
Ltd, will also be able to irradiate tropical fruit using Cobalt 60 ionising
radiation at the nuclear irradiation plant now under construction at
Narangba in Queensland.
I am opposed to food irradiation in general:
-Irradiation is a dangerous technology looking for a use. The Australia New
Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC) did not approve the irradiation of
nuts under application A413 by nuclear irradiation company Steritech as they
found no technological need. Though ANZFSC approved in this application the
irradiation of herbs, spices and herbal infusions, there are healthier
technologies such as steam treatment to clean these food products.
- I am worried that irradiated herbal teas don't have to be labelled if sold
for medicinal purposes. If any ingredient of packaged food or food sold in
eateries has been irradiated, there must be clear labelling as 'irradiated
food' or 'ionizing radiation'.
-Scientific studies have shown that irradiation destroys up to 96% of
vitamins A, B, C, E and K along with other essential nutrients. George L.
Tritsch Ph.D, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York has publicly
stated: 'I am opposed to food irradiation because it is clear that this
process increases the levels of mutagens and carcinogens in the food. The
inevitable consequence of this is that in two to five decades in the future,
the incidence of cancer will increase from what we see now, in direct
proportions to the amounts of irradiated food consumed.'
I am opposed to the establishment of irradiation facilities in Queensland
and elsewhere in Australia:
-E-Beam Irradiation Company SureBeam Australia Pty Ltd, who want to build an
E-Beam irradiation plant in North Queensland is connected to the SureBeam
Corporation in the U.S.A. and its parent company Titan which is the defence
contractor that developed the National Missile Defence technology. It is
alarming that irradiation technology has direct links to the weapons
industry.
- The site for the nuclear irradiation facility at Narangba in Queensland
is close to schools, homes, and businesses. It is in a former wetland that
feeds into Moreton Bay national marine park, a region with a thriving
fishing industry. A nuclear accident at the Narangba food irradiation plant
would have devastating effects on the region. Accidents from nuclear
irradiation facilities around the world report equipment failures, radiation
exposures, the deaths of workers, ground and water contamination,
mismanagement and cover-ups. Reports also detail accidents at E-Beam
irradiation facilities overseas, which resulted in worker injuries. There is
no insurance cover for nuclear accidents at Narangba.
Signature: ________________________________________
Print Name: _______________________________________
Address:
________________________________________________________________________
d) For further info on food irradiation, see
www.stopfoodirradiation.com
www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/international/australia/
www.purefood.org
================================================
Terrie Templeton WTO Watch Qld gumbus@powerup.com.au