TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume II Number 42 Friday, March 5, 1993 _________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary _________________________________________________________ GROUPS TELL KANTOR NACE NEEDS ENFORCEMENT POWERS Environmental groups have sent U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor 11 pages of suggestions regarding the establishment of supplemental environmental accords to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The groups, which include the Center for Environmental Law and Defenders of Wildlife, recommend that any North American Commission for the Environment (NACE) should be empowered to impose trade sanctions to enforce national environmental laws. The groups say NACE should be given the authority to dismiss complaints against laws passed for purely environmental reasons, and NACE should have the power to enforce NAFTA countries' environmental, health and safety standards. The groups call the current draft of NAFTA inadequate in a wide- range of areas, including clean-up, funding, public participation, international and domestic production standards, investment provisions, international agreements, energy provisions, agriculture provisions, conservation, state and local sovereignty and other areas. In a meeting with environmentalists February 23, Kantor asked for their input prior to the beginning of talks with Mexico and Canada March 17-18. The Clinton Administration seems eager to finish the side agreements so that NAFTA can be implemented by the January 1, 1994 target date. According to a draft working document prepared for the National Economic Council (NEC), the Clinton Administration will try to conclude the side environmental and labor accords by mid-year. "The proposed timing of submission of implementing legislation to Congress and the up-or-down vote on that legislation is such that if side agreement(s) are to be concluded concurrently, their negotiation must be concluded by June 1, 1993," said an outline used by an NEC working group. Three U.S. senators who oppose the current draft of NAFTA are seeking passage of legislation that would allow a delay in NAFTA's implementation. Several Canadian politicians are also seeking additional time to work on side agreements. "My concern is why the rush for the Canadians to sign the agreement when we don't even know what's in the side agreements," said Ontario Premier Bob Rae in an interview. Source: "Green Groups Press Kantor for Powerful NAFTA Environmental Commission," INSIDE U.S. TRADE, March 5, 1993; "NEC Draft Shows Administration Wants NAFTA Side Deals Finished by Mid-Year," INSIDE U.S. TRADE, March 5, 1993; "Ontario's Rae Says NAFTA Should Not Be Rushed," REUTER, March 4, 1993. _________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary _________________________________________________________ 200,000 FARMERS PROTEST GATT IN INDIA More than 200,000 Indian farmers gathered in New Delhi Wednesday to protest the Dunkel Draft of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Farm leaders and scientists wore green to show their opposition to GATT's intellectual property rights clauses, which they said would rob them of the right to save and reproduce seeds. Farm organizations released a joint Charter of Demands stating: "The meeting of farmers demands the total rejection of the Dunkel Draft Text which is trying to invade the economic sovereignty of the country and further damage human rights and the dignity of the individual. This meeting also demands an amendment to the Constitution of India making it mandatory on the part of the Government to get all international agreements ratified by a majority of both the houses of Parliament and also of not less than one half of the State Legislature." In addition, the farmers criticized the appropriation of farm land through state mechanisms for multinational corporations, and demanded that no farm land be transferred through the Land Acquisition Act. Planning for the rally began in December 1992 after the Karnataka Rajya Ryota Sangha (KRRS -- the state level farmers organization in Karnataka) demonstrated at the Cargill India headquarters in Bangalore and told the multinational seed companies to "quit India." KRRS has threatened to wage a "blitzkrieg to oust multinational corporations not only in the agriculture field but in all sectors of the Indian economy." Source: Vandana Shiva, "Farmers Rally Against Dunkel Draft and MNC's," March 3, 1993; "Farmers Threaten War on MNCs," PIONEER, March 4, 1993. _________________________________________________________ TAIWAN BEGINS GATT TALKS WITH U.S. A four-member U.S. delegation arrived in Taiwan to begin informal talks on the island's application to join GATT. The United States, which plays a significant role in selecting new members to the world trade body, wants Taiwan to lower import tariffs, strengthen protection of foreign intellectual property rights and make other reforms. Taiwan has expressed interest in joining GATT this year. Source: "Taiwan Discusses Its GATT Application with U.S.," REUTER, March 5, 1993. _________________________________________________________ Produced by: Kai Mander The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite #303 Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546 USA Telephone:(612)379-5980 Fax:(612)379-5982 E-Mail:kmander@igc.apc.org _________________________________________________________