Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 11:04:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Joanne Naiman To: psn@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Threat of NAFTA case kills Canada's MMT ban (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 23:37:26 -0400 From: Eric Fawcett To: s4p all lists , s4pont@physics.utoronto.ca, s4potht@physics.utoronto.ca, s4ptor@physics.utoronto.ca Subject: Threat of NAFTA case kills Canada's MMT ban The above was the banner headline in the Globe and Mail on the same day as the following article. The implication for the Government's MAI negotiations (unstated of course) is profound, with environmental regulations (and many others) becoming vulnerable to challenge by foreign corporations, the cases being adjudicated by non-elected international trade tribunals. Victoria Times-Colonist, Monday July 20, 1998; p. A6. "Liberals to back off on gas additive ban" OTTAWA (CP) - The Liberal government is backing off on its year-old ban of the gasoline additive MMT, despite new evidence the manganese in the octane enhancer can cause problems in the nervous system. Government officials have reached a tentative deal with MMT-maker Ethyl Corp., of Richmond, Va., to avoid a legal challenge under the North American free-trade agreement. Federal lawyers had warned the Liberal cabinet that Ethyl would likely win the NAFTA case. Sources told the newspaper that negotiators for the two sides had agreed that Ottawa would drop its ban on MMT and pay the company an estimated $10 million for legal costs and lost profits. The government will also issue a statement to the effect that the manganese-based additive is neither an environmental nor a health risk. In return, Ethyl would drop its NAFTA challenge and its claim for $250 million US in damages. However, Prime Minister Jean Chretien must still approve the agreement. The Liberal government banned the cross-border sale of MMT last year, saying the substance interferes with automobile emission controls and is therefore an environmental hazard. The legislation prohibited the importation or interprovincial sale of the additive. Former environmental ministers Sheila Copps and Sergio Marchi both argued they couldn't ban MMT directly because Health Canada had found there wasn't sufficient evidence it was toxic at low levels. So they resorted to the trade ban. Still, the Liberals' reversal comes as new studies indicate low-level exposure to manganese can cause memory impairment and tremors. Donna Mergler, a neurotoxicologist at the University of Quebec at Montreal, is conducting a study of 306 people in south-western Quebec that correlates manganese blood levels with neurological problems. Preliminary findings presented to a conference last October suggested even low levels of manganese in the blood can have health effects, particularly in children and the elderly. -----------------------------------------------------