From
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Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 16:27:52 -0800 (PST)
From: IATP <
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To: Recipients of conference <
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Subject: Trade News 11-27-96
Trade News
Produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy
November 27, 1996
Volume 5, Number 17
____________________________________________
Headlines:
- NGOS, GOVERNMENTS CLASH OVER TRADE AT WORLD FOOD
SUMMIT
- ILO SHAPES ITS RESPONSE TO TRADE AND LABOR LINKAGE
- WTO REFUSES REQUEST OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- BURMA RE-ENTERS RICE EXPORT MARKET
- MEXICO SUSPENDS PARTICIPATION IN TUNA ACCORD
- CHRISTIAN AID PUSHES FOR FAIR TRADE
- NEXT TRADE ROUND TO BE TOUGHER FOR CANADIAN FARMERS
____________________________________________
NGOS, GOVERNMENTS CLASH OVER TRADE AT WORLD FOOD SUMMIT
The World Food Summit held in Rome last week yielded
much talk, but little action. Governments backed off at
the last minute from signing the Summit Plan of Action,
citing legal implications in some countries to signing
international agreements. Bread for the World spoke for
many NGOs in calling both the Rome Declaration on World
Food Security and the Summit Plan for Action "major
disappointments." They cited as particularly weak the
lack of any real commitment to strengthening
international law regarding the right to food. Although
a number of Third World governments supported this
initiative, it was opposed by the U.S. government.
A deep division emerged between the views of the NGOs
and the official position of many governments on the
issue of further deregulation of trade. While governments argued
that the solution to hunger was more trade liberalization, NGOs
presented dozens of case studies on specific instances
where the new agricultural rules of the World Trade
Organization were causing hunger, poverty, and food
insecurity.
In response to what they saw as a watering down of
governments' commitment to food security, NGOs put
forward a statement endorsing the call by many Third
World governments for a Code of Conduct on the Right to
Food and supporting a Food Security Convention which
gained wide support at the NGO Forum.
Global Network on Food Security, "World Food Summit
Network News," November 11 and 12, 1996.
ILO SHAPES ITS RESPONSE TO TRADE AND LABOR LINKAGE
Amid growing certainty that the WTO will not be
addressing the controversial issue of trade and labor
linkages in Singapore, the International Labor
Organization (ILO) looks to be the appointed arbiter of
trade and labor linkage after the Singapore conference.
The US, EU and other developing countries had wanted the
issue of global trade and labor standards to be added to
the WTO workplan for the next two years but faced strong
opposition from developing countries, most notably India.
The ILO met in Geneva this month for an "enterprise
forum" geared at developing new, more effective ways of
addressing the growing power of multinational
corporations and the globalization of the world economy.
As it stands, the organization sees itself as the social
conscience of the international economic system, but
lacks any real power to enforce standards for employment
practices and social responsibility. If the WTO is to
hand the trade and labor linkage issue over to the ILO,
an option supported by a number of developed and
developing countries, it must also be afforded some
powers by the WTO, lest the ILO remain without teeth.
The ILO will begin a study next year of social labeling
projects such as the Rugmark, which certifies that
carpets have not been made with child labor. Social
labeling will be linked to core ILO standards including
the prohibition of child and slave labor, and rights to
collective bargaining and freedom of association. ILO
Director-General Michel Hansenne noted, however , that
there is still no agreement on utilizing a compulsory
mechanism like social labeling, nor for any direct link
between ILO standards and trade sanctions.
John Zaracostas, "ILO Chief Hopes Summit Will Yield
Enforcement of Global Standards," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE,
November 7, 1996; Frances Williams, "ILO changes
tactics on Labor Reform," FINANCIAL TIMES, November 11,
1996.
WTO REFUSES REQUEST OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The WTO Committee on Agriculture rejected the position
of poor countries that the Uruguay Round(UR)
agricultural agreements had resulted in greater food
insecurity. On October 24th, the committee refused to
implement the "Marrakesh Decision On Net Food Importing
Developing Countries" (NFIDCs) for the Singapore
Ministerial Conference, which promised compensation to
poor countries if the UR agriculture agreements harmed
their food security. Many of the net-food importing
countries were disappointed by the Committee's
recommendation that WTO member countries merely
"encourage" international financial institutions, like
the World Bank and the IMF, to make further
consideration of establishing or enhancing facilities
available to NFIDC for managing short-term difficulties
for financing food imports.
"Report by the Committee on Agriculture on the Marrakesh
Ministerial Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible
Negative Effects of the Reform Program on Least-
Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries,"
Report for the Singapore Ministerial Conference adopted
by the Committee on Agriculture, October 24, 1996.
BURMA RE-ENTERS RICE EXPORT MARKET
Burma shipped 20,000 tons of rice in August, ending a
moratorium on new rice exports in place since February,
1995. The country expects to ship 150,000 tons in the
first quarter of 1997. Rice traders remain skeptical of
the re-entry, however, having been burned by 18 months
of unfulfilled contracts, including contracts for
500,000 tons canceled earlier this year.
Rice exports are the main source of foreign exchange
earnings for the Burmese government, which holds a
monopoly on rice exports. The Burmese military regime
is currently facing a keen foreign exchange shortage as
it looks to pay for fuel imports and arms. Most of the
rice for export is secured through a "paddy tax" placed
on growers of between 200 to 600 pounds per acre,
purchased anywhere from one-fifth to
one-half of the (liberalized) domestic price. Burma
experienced a dramatic rise in domestic rice prices in
1995, forcing the government to call a moratorium on new
rice exports. Prior to that, Burma had hoped to
increase its yearly rice exports to 3 million tons by
2000.
Traders advise that Burma must act quickly to ship the
150,000 tons of rice or lose out in the low quality rice
market. Vietnam, which allows private traders to move
rice into the world market, could get to market faster
then the Burmese government can manage.
Ted Bardacke, "Burma Returns to the Rice Export Market,"
FINANCIAL TIMES, November 7, 1996.
MEXICO SUSPENDS PARTICIPATION IN TUNA ACCORD
Mexico suspended its active participation in a the La
Jolla Agreement, a marine-life conservation forum,
citing failure on the part of the U.S. to lift a ban on
tuna imports from Mexico or to revise the definition of
"dolphin-safe" tuna. Mexico will continue to allow the
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) to
monitor its fishing practices in a
continuing effort to move toward a binding, enforceable
international agreement called for in the 1995 Panama
Declaration between the U.S. and Latin American fishing
nations.
The U.S. Congress failed to vote on legislation lifting
the tuna ban at the end of its last session. President
Clinton did promise in October, however, to push passage
of the bill sponsored by Sens. Breaux (D-LA) and Stevens
(R-AK) as soon as the new congressional session begins
next year. In addition to lifting the embargo on tuna,
the bill would consider "dolphin-safe" any tuna caught
by setting nets on dolphins, as long as no dolphins are
observed killed in the process. The bill is supported by
five U.S. environmental groups -- Greenpeace, World
Wildlife Fund, Center for Marine Conservation, National
Wildlife Federation and Environmental Defense Fund.
Opponents of the bill criticized Mexico's decision to
suspend its participation in the La Jolla Agreement as
an attempt to gut U.S. protection laws.
Mexico charges that failure to pass the Breaux-Stevens
bill is a rejection of multilateral, science-based
environmental policy in favor of unilateral interests.
Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Vanuatu and
Venezuela joined Mexico in criticizing the U.S. for
failing to meet its commitment to
pass legislation, but did not suspend participation in
the LaJolla Agreement.
"Mexico Suspends Active Role in Tuna Pact in Protest of
U.S. Inaction," INSIDE U.S. TRADE, November 1, 1996.
CHRISTIAN AID PUSHES FOR FAIR TRADE
The international organization Christian Aid published a
report on October 28, 1996, chastising British
supermarkets for selling food products produced by
farmers in developing countries who are working under
degrading conditions for unacceptably low wages. The
report sites its observations of workers and facilities
in countries including Brazil, South Africa, Thailand
and Peru. In addition to receiving low wages, the
organization found workers subjected to pesticide
poisoning, discrimination and other "punishing" working
conditions on the farms and plantations visited.
According to the study, more than 25% of the United
Kingdom's imported food and drink comes from developing
countries. By raising awareness of unjust working
conditions, Christian Aid hopes consumer pressure will
force supermarkets to adopt a code of conduct with
standards for minimum age for workers, right to union
representation, and working hours and conditions. The
organization also called for an independent monitoring
body for supermarkets.
Graham Bowley, "Charity Attacks Supermarkets Ethics,"
FINANCIAL TIMES, October 28, 1996.
NEXT TRADE ROUND TO BE TOUGHER FOR CANADIAN FARMERS
Officials at the Ontario Federation of Agriculture are
warning Canadian farmers to expect hard times with the
next round of international trade negotiations. Tony
Morris predicts that the U.S. will push hard to
dismantle all trade barriers and tariffs, but still
protect its farmers against keen competition. Even more
challenging, the EU will demand that imports meet their
high animal welfare, environment and food safety
standards. More important, given the "mad-cow" crisis
Europe faced this year, the EU will demand complete
traceability from farm to fork for an individual cow,
including on-farm records of what the cow was fed and
what drugs, vaccines and medicines were administered.
"Next Trade Round is Going to Be Tougher," ONTARIO
FARMER, October 22, 1996.
____________________________________________
RESOURCES/EVENTS
____________________________________________
The White House announced that the 1997 G-7 Summit will
be held in Denver June 20 through 22, 1997.
CIIR Briefing: The Marrakesh Decision- Honoring the
Commitment to Net Food Importing Developing Countries,
by Penny Fowler. September, 1996. Examines the practical
implications of the Marrakesh Decision for least
developed and net food-importing developing countries.
The paper recommends which types of assistance or
compensation should be provided to developing countries
in implementing the Decision Order from the Catholic
Institute for International Relations, Unit 3, Canonbury
Yard, 190a New North Road, London N1 7BJ UK.
Sterile Fields: The Impacts of Intellectual Property
Rights & Trade on Biodiversity & Food Security, by
Kristin Dawkins and Steve Suppan. Institute for
Agriculture and Trade Policy. November, 1996. Examines
the Uruguay Round "TRIPs" Agreement and impact of
patenting and plant breeders' rights on farmers' rights,
and outlines the Uruguay Round Agriculture Agreement
covering market access, domestic support and export
competition. The report includes NGO recommendations to
the world's governments for addressing needs of LIFDCs
and NFIDCs. $5.00 U.S. Order from IATP, 2105 1st Avenue
South, Minneapolis, MN 55404, USA. 612/870/0453;
fax 612/870/4846. Specify English and Spanish.
Trade and Foreign Direct Investment, by Richard
Blackhurst and Adrian Otten. World Trade Organization:
October 16, 1996. Order from the Information and Media
Relations Division of the World Trade Organization,
Centre William Rappard, 154 Rue de Lausanne, CH-1211
Geneva 21. Telephone 41-22 739/50/07; fax 41-22-
739/54/58.
The World Trade Organization and Sustainable
Development: An Independent Assessment, A Report by the
International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Order from IISD, 161 Portage Avenue East, 6th Floor, Winnipeg,
Manitoba R38 0Y4. Telephone 204/958/7700; fax 204/958/7710.
Offers a comprehensive guide to WTO bodies and committees,
TRIPs, transparency and policies with regards to sustainable
development.
________________________________________
Trade News is produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy, Mark Ritchie, President. Edited by Judy Brienza.
Electronic mail versions are available free of charge for subscribers.
For information about fax subscriptions contact: IT, 2105 1st Ave. S.,
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