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Seattle
declares itself "MAI-Free Zone"! GENEVA: The City of Seattle, where the US government has invited the WTO to hold its 3rd Ministerial meeting, has declared itself an MAI-Free Zone! To meet the costs of holding the WTO meeting, the US Federal Government has had a host committee, chaired by Microsoft's Bill Gates and having as members other big corporate names, all of whom support and push for an international trade regime that would enhance the property rights (very broadly defined) of foreign corporations and investors against governments of countries. But in a resolution adopted by unanimous vote on 12 April, the Seattle City Council has expressed support for the City's right to regulate within its jurisdiction on a variety of questions including how to spend its procurement funds, support local development, and pass laws to protect the environment and fair labour practices, and oppose the provisions of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) that could restrict this ability. Political statement Seattle has joined other cities across the United States that have made or adopted similar resolutions, which may have no legal value (in applicable US domestic law or international rules), but constitute a political statement. Other cities and sub-federal authorities in the US and Canada that have taken a similar stand include Olympia, Turnwater, San Francisco, Oakland, Houston, Boulder, Berkeley and Vancouver (British Columbia, in Canada), the Western Governors Association, the Association of Washington Cities, the Washington State Association of Counties and the National Association of Counties. The coalition of NGOs campaigning against international investment rules, in a press release, noted that ever since the collapse of the negotiations for an MAI at the OECD, proponents of such an agreement have been looking for new avenues for negotiations. Several have cast their eyes on the WTO and want to see investment issues included in an upcoming round of trade negotiations. "The opposition to an MAI is based on substance, not the venue where it was being negotiated," the NGOs said. The opposition "will grow until politicians realize that the MAI model is fundamentally flawed, and start listening to the concerns of labour unions, environmental groups, human rights activists, consumer organizations, women's groups and all other parts of the broad coalition that helped stop the MAI in the OECD." (TWN/SUNS4417) The above article first appeared in the South-North Development Monitor (SUNS).
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