Re: [ftaadelegation] My op-ed

[Jon Falk]

Bob-

The Op-Ed is excellent.  There are a couple of places where the sentence 
structure might be edited or tightened up a little, but these are 
minor.  The one place where I thought the meaning might be unclear was 
where you wrote of Salvadoran farmers being "priced out of the market" for 
corn, beans and sorghum.  I think a lot of readers would interpret that 
phrase to mean prices going up, not down.  Perhaps a sentence about the 
dumping of US grain and the role of US agricultural subsidies (if that can 
be done in a sentence) would be helpful.

I was very sorry to miss the last meeting -- I hope to be there next time.

Jon

At 11:07 AM 12/2/2003 -0500, you wrote:
I was able to share the attached op-ed with a few last night and wanted to 
share it with all today, With your encouragement I will send it along to 
the BDN.

Bob
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Fwd: Message from Bob Kates

[Jon Falk]

Hi everyone-

The following message bounced to me, because the attached report made it 
too big (800Kb+) to be distributed to the list.  I'm forwarding it without 
the attachment, so those of you interested in reading the report will have 
to go to www.mitc.com.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Jon


Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 13:52:50 -0500
Subject: NAFTA report
From: Robert Kates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: reality tour listserve <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Today's BDN carried this story and I have attached the report. Do we want to
discuss this on Saturday?
Bangor Daily News - Print this Article By Deborah Turcotte, Of the NEWS
Staff e-mail Deborah
Last updated: Monday, January 12, 2004
Economy's ills beyond NAFTA



BANGOR - Any of the 18,000 manufacturing workers statewide who lost their
jobs in the last three years will say their positions were eliminated as a
result of increased foreign trade. Usually the angry cry from the workers is
just one acronym - NAFTA.


But that's only partly true, according to a report issued last week by
Planning Decisions Inc., a public policy consulting group in South Portland.
NAFTA - the 10-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement that will phase
out tariffs on imports and exports among the United States, Canada and
Mexico over 15 years - is not the sole reason for the ailing economy in at
least two-thirds of the state.
Only 4,400 jobs were directly lost because of trade pressures from Canada
and Mexico between 1993 and early 2003, according to the report, which
outlines winners and losers throughout the state as a result of NAFTA. The
other 13,600 manufacturing job losses, and the reduction of thousands of
other jobs in communities that were supported by manufacturing purchases and
wages, are attributable to other foreign economic pressures. Those include
U.S. companies moving production overseas, to the Caribbean or Asia, or
low-priced imports from foreign countries.
The U.S. Department of Labor certified the NAFTA-related unemployment
numbers after reviewing applications for trade adjustment assistance
benefits for laid-off workers which were submitted to the federal government
by the Maine Department of Labor.
The report, titled "The Effects of NAFTA on the Maine Economy," was
commissioned by the Legislature and prepared by Planning Decisions for the
Maine International Trade Center. Its 73 pages outline increased imports and
investments primarily from Canada into Maine's economy, and gains in exports
from Maine to Canada. Maine experienced export gains in fishing and related
products, while lumber, wood and paper exports have dropped off by 12
percent.
"Since 1993 Maine's exports and imports have more than doubled, creating
more export-based jobs and providing wider purchasing choices to Maine's
businesses and consumers," according to the report. "Canadian firms have
made important investments in Maine's natural resource industries. Increased
specialization within the geographically natural economy that Maine and the
Canadian Maritimes comprise has strengthened the global competitiveness of
potatoes, blueberries and aquaculture."
Yet the report's writer, economist Charles Lawton, admits in the publication
that not every positive or negative impact of NAFTA on the state could be
identified, and that some highly visible industries are hurting more than
others as a result of the trade policy. Wood products, food processing and
some segments of the metals industries have experienced tremendous net job
losses, Lawton said.
"This study is not a comprehensive analysis of gains and losses from NAFTA,"
Lawton wrote. "Such a study would require greater analysis of consumption
gains and investment flows as well as job and trade flows."
What's evident, however, is that Maine and the rest of the country have
benefited from increased investment from Canada. Between 1993 and 2000,
Canadian investment increased nine fold to more than $27 billion, according
to the report.
Canadian companies are viewing Maine as an entry point into the American
marketplace even though U.S. companies don't look to the state as a place to
do business because of its high energy rates and taxes. Numerous companies,
such as Emera Corp. of Halifax, Nova Scotia, J.D. Irving of Saint John, New
Brunswick, Brascan Corp. of Toronto and its subsidiary, NexFor-Fraser
Papers, and McCain Foods of Florenceville, New Brunswick, have invested
hundreds of millions of dollars in businesses throughout Maine.
Three major paper mills and eight lumber mills are owned by Canadian firms,
while half of Maine's forestland still in industry hands is owned by
Canadian paper companies, according to the report. Maine and Canadian
blueberry growers and processors participate in joint branding and marketing
programs, and the flow of petroleum and wood pulp products through the port
of Portland has created new jobs, the report stated.
Timothy Woodcock, a Bangor attorney who is active in promoting an economic
union of New England and Atlantic Can

[ftaadelegation] Report on Web site

[Jon Falk]

I've put the report up in PICA's Web site - am still looking for the photo 
that Kathleen recommended. I can add it later.  You can get to the report 
pages by following the link on PICA's home page, .

Jon

Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

Re: [ftaadelegation] April 1, and also a party?

[Jon Falk]

Dennis-

I'm interested in helping put the presentation together, and in coming if I 
can.  Sign me up for the party, too.

Jon

At 08:54 PM 2/2/2004 -0500, you wrote:
Hi friends -

Phew, eh?   We did it!   Wonderful job from this very special 
delegation.

Not quite down to business, but...

1. Shouldn't we have a plain old party sometime soon?

2. And, we've been asked by people in Orono who run a forum called 
EvenSay to give a presentation on Thursday April 1 7-9 pm.  Could be the 
same thing we've just done, maybe cut at the end to not be so 
legislative-bill focused, and therefore a little punchier finish.  Or 
could be a truncated version of the show, with more personal stories.

Who might be able to do this, and who not?  The reason I'm asking now 
is that they're looking for names of people who'd come, as they want to 
publish some advertisement.

Dennis
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

Re: [ftaadelegation] More considerations-feedback requested!!!

[Jon Falk]

Katie-

Keep up the great work!!  A few technical questions and thoughts:
1.  How big is the montage Quicktime file (if you know that 
yet)?  It would be better to put it on CD than DVD, assuming it will fit -- 
a lot more people will be able to play it.
2. Do you know if Powerpoint for Mac files translate to PC?  I'm 
assuming they do, but have never tried it.  Maybe you can get one of the 
files to me and I'can test it -- there are sometimes odd formatting things 
that happen in Word in going between PC and MAC, but I don't know about 
Powerpoint.
3. A couple of people have asked me about putting the montage on 
the Web site.  We can do a streaming video file, but will probably need to 
do some drastic things (making the screen size much smaller/lower 
resolution) to get a file small enough to work over a dial-up 
connection.  I'm guesstimating that you can only stream around 250 
Kb/minute over dial-up, to the total file for a 6-minute video can only be 
1.5 Mb.  This may not be possible without making the video 
unwatchable.  The alternative is to have a video that is designed for a 
broadband connection, which can be much larger.  (Before we do any of this, 
it would be good to have a more general conversation about how we want 
to  use the Web).

Jon

At 12:09 AM 2/3/2004 -0500, you wrote:
Hola, FTAA Reality Touristas and suppporters in attendance Friday night,

More considerations for the team while thinking about the April 1st 
invitation and a party (Hooray!) and another presentation..

We are in the process of organizing/editing  the powerpoints  (photos and 
scripts) for saving to cd's for distribution to anyone who would like them 
for presentations. The "montage" will be transferred to dvd or cd in 
quicktime sometime next week. Hopefully all can be included in the same 
format. We'd also like to include all the transcripts that have been 
prepared including Cesar's and the Ministry's in case anyone wants to 
include more testimony, also maps that could be projected.

Questions:
Did the pictures that were chosen work for you?( matching script in topic, 
concept or feeling)
Did the scripts work?  Does anything need to be changed or added for 
future presentations?

Are there other topics or materials that you think should be included in 
"the package" for presentations?

Note: we're adding the Environment piece to the powerpoint/scripts.
Anyone presenting will be able to use whatever pieces they want depending 
on the audience.  There will also be an intro to the "montage"  and a 
revised closure.

Now is the time for your input. This is definitely a team effort, so 
please write back---might make it easier to reply to allthen we all 
will hear  and can respond to suggested changes or improvements.

Dennis, I'm pretty sure I can be there on April 1st.

All for now. It's pumpkin time.
Hugs for all,
Katie



Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Delegation list archives

[Jon Falk]

Hi all-

As Katie discovered yesterday to her surprise,  postings to this FTAA 
delegation listserv are placed in a publicly-accessible archive on the Web, at:


While I sent out a message about the archive when we first set the list up, 
Katie's discovery made me realize that I did not explain the archiving 
well, or lead the sort of discussion about the implications of a public 
archive that we should have had.  So here it is, better late than never.

Mail-Archive.com is a free service run by a few volunteers.  E-mail 
addresses are automatically removed from messages, to protect privacy and 
prevent spam.  However, the content of messages is all there, which is good 
for us if there are things list members want to go back and re-read, but 
potentially bad if we are writing things we don't want everyone to 
see.  The archiving is either "on" or "off" - I can't edit out or delete 
individual messages.  It is very easy to stop the archiving of all future 
messages.  However, I don't know if it is possible to delete the existing 
message archive.  I can pursue this if people feel there are messages that 
they don't want preserved and shared.

If anyone feels that messages should not be archived, then I think it would 
be best to err on the idea of caution and privacy, and stop the 
archiving.  In that case, we would all be responsible for preserving our 
own copies of the list messages.

If this seems confusing, then please speak up and I'll try to explain more 
- I think it's important that we all understand what's going on.

Jon



Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Fwd: Sad news from Carasque

[Jon Falk]

Friends,
Sorry to be the bearer of sad news.  We received a phonecall from Mario,
from Carasque, now living in Washington, letting us know news he'd just
heard.  On Friday night, two young people from the village, Ismael and
Nelson, who had just started as students at the University of Central
America in San Salvador, were riding a mini-bus in San Salvador.  The bus
was held up and robbed. Ismael was shot and killed, and Nelson was seriously
wounded with a knife.  Ismael was the son of the across-the-road neighbors
of the community house (Bangor house) where many of us have stayed in
Carasque.  His parents are Chepa and Don Felipe, and his sisters are Lupe,
who visited Bangor on the youth tour, and Angela, who is one of the popular
teachers.  We just spoke with Jesse, who spent the day in Carasque at the
mass and burial.  He and Ismael were good friends.  He describes the whole
community as utterly distraught with sadness at this senseless loss.  Ismael
was a gentle young man who had just accomplished the incredibly difficult
task of getting into the university.  Everyone is really worried about
Nelson, who is still in the hospital in critical care.  Jesse will be going
back out to the community in a week.  If you'd like to send any messages
along with him, you can email Jesse by Saturday, at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Meanwhile, we hold our Carasque brothers and sisters in our hearts.
 With love, Katherine
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

Fwd: Re: [ftaadelegation] FW: CAFTA /free trade/export opportunities workshop

[Jon Falk]

This is forwarded from Lesley (her message bounced to me (Mr. Lists 
Administrator) because she's changed E-mail addresses, and her new address 
was not subscribed.  (Lesley- you're now subscribed from your UM address, 
and unsubscribed from your PICA address.

Jon


Hi all,

I like Matt's suggestion that MFTC and/or PICA join the MITC, so we can 
stay on top of their activities.

Also, if you haven't already done so, please check out the website for the 
World Affairs Council of Maine.  They state the following as part of their 
purpose:

The Council assists business leaders in understanding the impact of world 
affairs on global trade and local economies. It encourages workers to 
expand their companies' international perspective.

You can find them at http://www.wacmaine.org/.

Lesley
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Fwd: From Matt Schlobohm

[Jon Falk]

I don't think there is enough time to make it happen
for May 12, but we might want to ask the World Affairs
Council to sponsor a debate on CAFTA/trade issues this
summer or fall. Especially with trade playing such a
major role in the elections they might be interested in
putting something together that featured multiple
perspectives on CAFTA, trade issues, or trade rules
impact on Maine. It could make for an interesting forum
and a great way to reframe the debate and push a fair
trade message. The corporate free trade arguments are
not hard to take apart.
Just a thought.

Cheers,
matt
On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:46:33 -0400, "Lesley E. Lichko"
wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I like Matt's suggestion that MFTC and/or PICA join
the
> MITC, so we can stay on top of their activities.
>
> Also, if you haven't already done so, please check out
> the website for the World Affairs Council of Maine.
> They state the following as part of their purpose:
>
> The Council assists business leaders in understanding
> the impact of world affairs on global trade and local
> economies. It encourages workers to expand their
> companies' international perspective.
>
> You can find them at http://www.wacmaine.org/.
>
> Lesley
_
FindLaw - Free Case Law, Jobs, Library, Community
http://www.FindLaw.com
Get your FREE @JUSTICE.COM email!
http://mail.Justice
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Fwd: PICA Fair Trade Committee minutes

[Jon Falk]

From: "Stefano Tijerina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: PICA Fair Trade Committee minutes
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 16:25:55 -0400
I take this opportunity to say hello to everybody on this e-mail list and 
thank you for allowing me to be part of your team.  I am attaching the 
minutes from the Fair Trade Committee that met on Wednesday 5, 
2004.  Please I encourage all of those that could not make it to come to 
our next committee (June 2, 2004 at 6:00 pm) and be part of this fantastic 
effort.

Stefano Tijerina
Director
Peace Through Interamerican Community Action
PICA
(207)947-4203
170 Park Street
Bangor, Maine 04401 USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pica.ws
PICA Fair Trade Committee

Meeting Minutes

Wednesday May 5, 2004







Attended by:  Dennis Chinoy, Karen Volckhausen, Margaret Baillie, 
Katherine Kates, Dallas Anderson, Bjorn Cleason, Stefano Tijerina.



Facilitation:  Stefano Tijerina and Bjorn Cleason

Notes:  Stefano Tijerina



FTC MEETING SCHEDULE





A regular meeting schedule was set for the rest of the year, starting JUNE 
2 and continuing every first WEDNESDAY of each month.  Meetings will last 
2 hours, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. (food and beverages welcome).



ACCOMPLISHMENTS



   * On May 10, 2004 the LD 1815 (Maine Jobs, Trade and Democracy Act) 
was signed by Governor Baldacci.  The event was attended by 
representatives from the majority of the organizations that made up the 
coalition effort.  Stefano Tijerina went in representation of PICA.
   * LD 1815 was funded at $10,000 for the general fund and $2,300 for 
the legislative council per diem
   * Petition gathering was a success.  From the 12,000 that mailed back 
the response card, 3,000 were from the Bangor area.  Balloting was 
therefore a successful piece of the campaign.
   * Bjorn highlighted the fact that the Fair Trade campaign transcended 
from the local level to the state level.



OBSERVATIONS



   * From Margaret's point of view Fair Trade information is still not 
very clear, the language is too technical and it has to be changed so 
that all citizens can understand the concepts without dealing with 
complicated acronyms.
   * Dallas stated that good part of the academia is in favor of the Free 
Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA).
   * Katherine observed that through the Fair Trade campaign many local 
PICA activists were lost once we moved from the community effort and into 
the state effort.

WHAT SHOULD PICA DO?





The committee actively brainstormed about the future role that PICA should 
play on the Citizen Trade Policy Commission; these were the conclusions?

   * Dennis asked if we wanted to remain working on the local effort or 
should we also join the state effort? Who or what groups could be pulled 
together in order to participate actively in the PICA committee? He also 
commented that know that we know that there is great potential, the 
education effort should become one of the greatest priorities.
   * Bjorn recommends that PICA should have one seat on the Citizen Trade 
Policy Commission and that it should be an active partner in the coalition.



GOALS





The committee agreed on a set of short-term goals to be achieved in a 
one-year period; these were:



I.Build and sustain a robust Fair Trade working group.

II. Establish PICA as the natural connection between civil 
society and government

III.   Educate the community and educate PICA internally in 
issues of international trade

IV.  Contribute to the defeat bilateral efforts of the federal 
government

V. Solidarity with local and international communities 
impacted by present trade agreements

VI.  Develop and implement fair trade alternatives

VII.Promote a pro globalization and pro fair trade reputation 
for PICA.



HOW





The committee began to discuss ways in which these goals could be 
achieved.  Time constrains did not allow the committee to touch on each of 
the seven goals, so only two were covered and the rest will be covered in 
the next meeting which is scheduled for June 2 at 6:00 p.m.



Goal:  Educate the community and educate PICA internally about issues of 
international trade.



-Choose themes with local traction, for example democracy, sovereignty and 
jobs.

-Provide information on the positions that each of the presidential 
candidates has on international trade.

-Provide information on international trade and its impact on 
concentration of wealth.

-Make use of commissions and public hearings to educate civil society and 
legislators.

-Concentrate great efforts of popular education.  This includes the use of 
popular language to make it accessible to everybody and move away from 
complex, elitist language.

-Divulge how the current negative trends of international trade relate to 
the day-to-day lives of the people in Maine and the interconnection that 
they have with labor forces across the wo

[ftaadelegation] Fwd: Fair Trade Campaign meeting & celebration!!! -- Wednesday May 5, at 6:30 at PICA

[Jon Falk]

Forwarded from Bjorn:
Dear all,
Before the meeting announcement, how about a VICTORY- HURRAY!!!  After 
pulling an all-nighter, the Legislature has FULLY funded the Maine Trade, 
Jobs and Democract Act -- meaning that the Citizens Trade Policy 
Commission should be fully operative come August or 
September.  Hurray!!!  We heard over and over again that this bill would 
not, could not be funded -- but our meetings, phone calls, letters, trips 
to Augusta, and good energy did it!

Ok -- now for the meeting invitation from Dennis Chinoy --- (but first: if 
you are new and don't recognize names and terms - you are specially 
invited -- we need everyone's energy and ideas and questions as we start a 
new phase of this fair trade campaign).  Ok, here we go:

Dear friends,
Is it time for all of us who this last year have taken part in PICA's work 
on trade to pause, celebrate, reflect, rethink?
It would be good to take stock of what's happened,   of where we are now, 
and to talk about where we'd like to be headed at this new point.
Who?  Folks on the original FTAA committee,  the regional Maine Fair Trade 
Committee into which it morphed,  the Reality Tour,  Sister City 
Committee, and all of us "non-Committeed" who have an interest in 
continuing PICA's  trade-related work.
How about Wednesday May 5, at 6:30 at PICA.  Those who can might bring a 
snack and we can all chew things over.
Dennis

Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Wm. Greider article - "Debtor Nation"

[Jon Falk]

There's an excellent article by William Greider, titled "Debtor Nation," in 
the May 10 issue of The Nation:


It begins:
"The backstory for this election year lacks the urgency of war or of 
defeating George W. Bush but focuses on a most fateful question: When will 
this hemorrhaging debtor nation be compelled to pull back from profligate 
consumption and resign its role as "buyer of last resort" for the global 
economy? The smart money assumes such a momentous reckoning probably won't 
occur in time to disrupt Bush's re-election campaign, but it may well 
become the dominating crisis in the next presidential term, whoever is 
elected. At that point, the United States will lose its aura of unilateral 
superiority, and globalization will be forced to undergo wrenching change. 
The American economy, in other words, is in much deeper trouble than most 
people realize."

He points out the profound implications for global trade, and has a set of 
proposals for how a government that actually wanted to deal with the 
situation might act. It's quite different from what any candidates are 
talking about. Some excellent food for thought.

I take Greider seriously on these big economic questions.  He pointed out 
the likelihood of the Asian economic meltdown several years before it 
happened, when none of the "experts" were saying anything of the sort.

Jon
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Fwd: (From Stefano Tijerina: PICA Fair Trade Committee)

[Jon Falk]

Hello everybody, I hope everybody is well and enjoying the slow arrival =
of summer.  For those who do not know me, I am Stefano Tijerina and I =
started working with PICA in May as the new director.  I wanted to take =
this opportunity to invite all of you to participate in the next Fair =
Trade Committee, so that we can all start analyzing PICA's next move on =
the subject of Fair Trade.  The committee meeting will take place at =
PICA this Wednesday June 2 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.
Fair Trade issues in Maine are at a point of transition, this is a time =
for us to catch our breath.  With the passage and funding of LD1815, the =
Maine Jobs, Trade and Democracy Act,  we'd like to have a thoughtful =
discussion of what work now seems most important for PICA to undertake.=20
=20
A preliminary meeting that took place in May detailed some over-arching =
goals,  noted in the minutes appended.   High on the list was building a =
robust committee that does good work and enjoys itself.  Hence a =
sizeable party sometime soon,  inviting many whom the campaign has =
touched along the way so far, as a fun way to widen our net and add to =
our active roster.  But the broad outlines of what to do and just how to =
proceed remain fairly wide open, and we invite you to help us think =
things through.=20
Your coming needn't mean you plan to join the committee, though of =
course that'd be prized. See you this Wednesday, I am looking forward to =
meeting those members that I have not had a chance to meet yet.=20
Paz,
Stefano Tijerina
Director
Peace Through Interamerican Community Action
PICA
(207)947-4203
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] Fw: Monday meeting

[Jon Falk]

Katherine Varin who works for CELSIG (European liaison committee on services
of general interest), a founding member of ATTAC1%. (www.celsig.org), will
be talking to us at PICA on Monday June 14 at 10:00 am.  It would be great
if some of you would be able to make it and participate.  Sorry for
announcing this late, but the opportunity came up on Friday through Francois
Amar.  Thank you Francois.  Please try to make it, this sounds very
interested.
Stefano Tijerina
Director
Peace Through Interamerican Community Action
PICA
(207)947-4203
170 Park Street
Bangor, Maine 04401 USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.pica.ws
Jonathan Falk
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433
 

[ftaadelegation] FW: From Stefano - FTAA meeting, Bjorn's BDN article

[Jon Falk]

Good morning, I hope everybody had a good weekend.  I wanted to share this 
article written by Bjorn Cleason which touches the fiber of International 
Trade Issues affecting us to day.  Please check it out, it is a very 
interesting piece.
Let me  remind you once again that the Fair Trade Committee meeting is 
scheduled for this Wednesday June 30 at 6:30 p.m.  I hope to see you all there.

thank you,
Stefano Tijerina
- Original Message -
From: Bjorn Claeson at PICA
To: Stefano Tijerina
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 8:01 AM
Subject: do you want to send this out to the fair trade committee, board?
Bangor Daily News
Last updated: Friday, June 25, 2004
Rules of trade: Should we care?
On June 12, 1999, President Bill Clinton prohibited federal acquisition
of products made by children who are indentured or forced to work. There
were, however, some notable exceptions to the ban: the 29 countries that
have signed either NAFTA or a World Trade Organization government
purchasing agreement.
Why were these countries exempted from such a seemingly basic ethical
standard? Because the Clinton administration feared it would violate
government purchasing rules in the trade agreements. According to one
such rule, for example, governments may only require that suppliers have
"the legal, technical, and financial abilities" to fulfill a contract.
Disqualifying a supplier for using indentured children to manufacture
their products or committing other human rights violations would be an
illegal barrier to trade.
Fast forward to August 2003: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick
asked all governors to authorize trade negotiators to offer their state
government purchasing markets in an array of new trade agreements. Such
offers were necessary to leverage access to other countries' state and
local government purchasing markets for U.S. corporations. However,
these new trade deals - with 38 new countries including the Central
America and South African regions - would require states to conduct
their government purchasing according to NAFTA and WTO-style rules that,
for example, allow forced child labor. The governors could not know what
rules they were agreeing to because none of the agreements had been
completed or were publicly available when they were asked to commit.
After giving Zoellick an initial nod of approval, Gov. John Baldacci
recently amended his response, saying the state would study the
agreements on a case-by-case basis before making any commitments. The
Maine Fair Trade Campaign, a coalition that educates the public about
the impact of trade policies and advocates for fair trade, had argued
that the purchasing rules in the trade agreements do not necessarily
provide any economic benefit for the state and could jeopardize a number
of our public policy objectives.
The rules of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), for
example, conflict with such policies as: favoring Maine businesses that
employ Maine workers for state contracts; requiring recycled content in
paper purchased by the state government; or insisting that state
suppliers do not sell products made in sweatshops. Failure to conform to
the trade rules could lead to a challenge of state purchasing laws in
private trade tribunals and result in taxpayer liability.
Six other governors, both Republican and Democratic, have recently
withdrawn their state purchasing markets from trade deals such as CAFTA,
citing similar concerns about their economic and public policy
objectives. The governors are not closing their states to international
trade; they are simply reserving the right to continue to make policy
for the benefit of the people of their states.
According to the U.S. Trade Representative office (USTR), the trade
rules help U.S. workers and firms by opening markets in other countries.
However, the same trade deals that are increasing exports and creating
jobs are increasing imports at a faster rate than exports, leading to
mounting U.S. trade deficits and job losses. Liberalizing trade in
government purchasing markets could have the same negative net result
for Maine if our companies lose more opportunities to supply goods and
services to Maine's government than they gain in contracts with foreign
governments. Even if Maine can leverage the opening of an additional
small foreign state or local government purchasing market, a large
transnational firm - that is neither based in Maine nor employing Maine
workers - is more likely to gain the additional contracts than most
small Maine businesses.
USTR denies that trade rules threaten most state policies, claiming that
trade agreements contain exceptions that states can use to protect
policies that otherwise violate trade rules. It is true that CAFTA's
trade rules, for example, do not apply to government preference programs
for small businesses and businesses owned by minorities, disabled
veterans, and women. However, other so called "exceptio

[ftaadelegation] Need new E-mail addresses

[Jon Falk]

Whenever someone sends a message to this delegation mailing list, I get 2 
bounce notices because of invalid addresses: Jimmy Cook's ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 
and  Alex Lounsbery's ([EMAIL PROTECTED]).  Alex's address has been bouncing 
for some time, Jimmy's just started, so perhaps its a temporary AOL glitch in 
his case.  Does anyone have current addresses for them so I can make sure 
they're still in the loop?

Jon

Jonathan Falk
189 Hinckley Hill Rd.
Carmel, ME  04419
(207)848-2433