> NOW Magazine, Toronto June 5, 1997 > > Netizens out secret investment treaty > > Cyberspace new player in furtive top-level negotiations > By COLMAN JONES > > Secret negotiations on a global investment treaty that threatens to > greatly strengthen the power of transnational corporations aren't that > secret anymore -- thanks to the Net. > > All around the world, activists are radically stepping up debate about > the multilateral agreement on investment (MAI), a proposed deal that > would rob governments of the right to make rules about foreign > investment. > > For the last two years, away from public scrutiny, high-level senior > bureaucrats from the 29 countries that form the Organization for Economic > Cooperation and Development (OECD) have been quietly drafting this new > set of global regulations for investment. > > Until this past February, when a negotiating text was finally leaked, it > had been virtually impossible to obtain information about MAI. Now that > the document has entered the public domain, a large body of analysis is > emerging, one that paints a frightening picture. > > According to William Witherell, the OECD's director of financial, fiscal > and enterprise affairs, in a commentary at http://www.odc.org/wither.htm > MAI is designed to provide a "level playing field" for international > investors by removing most of the remaining barriers to, and controls on, > the flow of cash worldwide, and instituting uniform rules on both market > access and legal security. > > Easing rules........ > =20 > Fears abound that the agreement will speed up the flow of jobs away from > industrialized nations and put more pressure on countries to compete for > investment dollars by cutting wages and easing rules on labour, consumer > safety and the environment. > > While negotiations continue behind closed doors in Paris, a far more > public discourse is taking place in cyberspace. > > A good starting point is MAI? No Thanks...!, a page assembled by > Victoria, B.C., counsellor, translator and computer whiz Hendrik > Zimmermann. > > Zimmermann has brought together a smorgasbord of information about MAI, > prefaced by a spirited poetic ode borrowing from the words of William > Blake that conjures up images of mad priests frantically dancing > around the biggest golden calf, presumably representing treasured > opportunities for profit. > > One of the more straightforward critiques of MAI comes from Public > Citizen's Global Trade Watch in Washington, part of Ralph Nader's Public > Citizen group. > > Global Trade Watch has joined with the Preamble Collaborative, another > D.C.-based think tank, located at http://www.rtk.net/preamble/, and a > coalition of other organizations to bring the MAI negotiations out > of the dark. > > Investors rights............ > > Preamble offers one of the more succinct analyses, The Multilateral > Agreement On Investment: A 'Bill of Rights' For International Investors? > > The Global Trade Watch site devoted to MAI is constantly updated, and you > can even subscribe to an electronic mailing list to get all the latest > news on the deal delivered directly to your hard drive. > > The text of the proposed agreement itself can be found in several > spots in cyberspace, either all in one huge text file > http://web.uvic.ca/german/hendrik/mai.txt) or conveniently split up into > separate sections (http://www.essential.org/monitor/mai/contents.html) > courtesy of the Multinational Monitor, a monthly publication that tracks > corporate activity, especially in the Third World, focusing on the export > of hazardous substances, worker health and safety, labour union issues > and the environment. > > Although the language of MAI is essentially bureaucratic in nature, some > passages make for pretty scary reading, especially those outlining the > most favored nation (MFN) stipulation. This requires governments to treat > all foreign countries and investors identically with respect to > regulatory laws. > > Economic sanctions that punish a country for human rights violations by > preventing corporations from doing business there would be among the > kinds of laws prohibited by this section. > > Back here in Canada, the MAI-Not project, run by Carleton students > affiliated with the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, is part of > the growing international movement to put a stop to the treaty. Their > home page, at http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~af558/, is a rather skimpy > effort, however, simply featuring the text of a flier the group has > produced on MAI -- which they spell out as "Mega-rich Alliance for > Irresponsibility" -- and links to other resources. At least it's a start > > One of the most thorough summations comes from the Canadian Centre for > Policy Alternatives, where Tony Clarke, director of the Polaris > Institute, recently got his hands on a draft copy of the full text of > the agreement. > > His preliminary analysis, titled The Corporate Rule Treaty > (http://www.policy alternatives.ca/mai.html) and released in April, > chronicles in meticulous detail the agreement's likely effects on Canada, > its governments and citizens, focusing in particular on job creation, > cultural protection, public health care and environmental safeguards, all > of which are potentially endangered by the deal. > > Little time............. > > Of course, not everyone is opposed to MAI, a fact Victoria's Zimmermann > has recognized by creating MAI? Why?, a page with references to articles > and Web sites in support of MAI, as well as links to the OECD, the World > Trade Organization and participating governments, at > http://www.islandnet.com/~hendrik/mai-yes.html. > > With MAI scheduled to be submitted for final approval by Ottawa, the U.S. > Senate and the European Union this fall, there's little time left to > debate the pros and cons of the deal, and the immediacy of the Net will > clearly play a pivotal role in taking this discussion out of the back > rooms. > > NOW JUNE 5- 11, 1997 =A9 1997 NOW Communications Inc. NOW and NOW Magazine
