(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
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Nafta's Powerful Little Secret; Obscure Tribunals Settle Disputes, but Go Too Far, Critics Say [1]
['Anthony Depalma']
Date: 2001-03-11
THEIR meetings are secret. Their members are generally unknown. The decisions they reach need not be fully disclosed. Yet the way a small group of international tribunals handles disputes between investors and foreign governments has led to national laws being revoked, justice systems questioned and environmental regulations challenged. And it is all in the name of protecting the rights of foreign investors under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The corporations -- American, Canadian and Mexican alike -- that directly invest in neighboring countries are thrilled that Nafta provides some protection. But foes of the trade pact say some of their worst fears about anonymous government have become reality. And as Western economies move toward more free trade and globalization, environmentalists, consumer groups and anti-trade organizations are increasingly worried about how the tribunals influence the enforcement of laws. The groups are gearing up for a fight at the Summit of the Americas next month in Quebec, where President Bush will be pushing a vast new Free Trade Area of the Americas, which would provide for similar tribunals.
Protesters will attack the sweeping powers and broad impact of the tribunals, along with their very nature -- ad hoc panels drawn from lists of academics and international lawyers almost unknown outside their highly specialized fields.
''What we're talking about here is secret government,'' said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group in Washington that has been critical of Nafta and other trade agreements. Ms. Claybrook said the 16 Nafta cases that have been filed so far in the United States, Canada and Mexico showed how corporations were using Nafta not to defend trade but to challenge the functioning of government. ''This is not the way to do the public's business,'' she said.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/business/nafta-s-powerful-little-secret-obscure-tribunals-settle-disputes-but-go-too-far.html
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