[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
DAM-L [right-to-water] Maude Barlow - Don't swallow their water grab (fwd)
----- Forwarded message from mritchie@iatp.org -----
Return-path: <mritchie@iatp.org>
Received: from mail.iatp.org (iatp-2.InnovSoftD.com [208.141.36.66])
by lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id RAA22576
for <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>; Thu, 13 Dec 2001 17:54:04 -0500 (EST)
From: mritchie@iatp.org
Received: from mail.iatp.org [208.141.36.110] by mail.iatp.org with ESMTP
(SMTPD32-7.04) id A3112A7F00CA; Thu, 13 Dec 2001 13:37:09 -0600
Content-Type: text/plain
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 11:34:07 -0600
Subject: [right-to-water] Maude Barlow - Don't swallow their water grab
To: dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
Message-ID: <200112131337359.SM01396@mail.iatp.org>
Right to Water (right-to-water@iatp.org) Posted: 12/12/2001 By mritchie@iatp.org
============================================================
From: commondreams / ed
Subject: Maude Barlow - Don't swallow their water grab
Published on Friday, November 30, 2001 in the Toronto Globe & Mail
Don't swallow their water grab
Clauses put forth at the last minute in Qatar could jeopardize the world's
clean, safe water
by Maude Barlow
In a world preoccupied with terrorism and war, there was little coverage
of the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting earlier this month in
Doha, Qatar. What coverage there was, often in newspaper business pages,
recounted that after tense negotiations around such issues as antidumping
and agriculture subsidies, the now 144 member countries of the WTO had
agreed to a new round of trade talks.
What didn't get reported is that in the last-minute wrangling over other
issues, the European Union inserted a clause into the final text that puts
our fresh water at risk, promotes the privatization of the world's water
resources and endangers international environmental treaties.
Going into the meeting, there was a deep divide between the United States,
Europe, Japan and Canada -- and everyone else. The North's wealthy
countries were pushing an ambitious agenda almost universally opposed by
the countries of the South. Well into every night, negotiators struggled
with this divide.
The final draft text appeared on the morning of Nov. 14, and delegates,
most of whom had not slept the night before, saved their energy for the
final fight about the timing of the start of new issues. Only a handful of
NGOs -- the few who had been able to travel to remote Qatar -- noticed
that, overnight, a new section called Trade and Environment had been added
to the text. When the assembly adopted the text later that day, the
frantic NGOs couldn't find one delegate who'd noticed this addition. Too
bad, because it may have terrible ramifications for the world.
Article 31, iii, calls for "the reduction, or, as appropriate, elimination
of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services."
This poses an immediate threat to shrinking freshwater resources, as a
"service" and as a "good."
While water has not yet been listed under the WTO General Agreement on
Trade in Services (GATS) as an environmental service, several countries --
the U.S. and Canada among them -- are pushing for its inclusion. In any
case, the GATS covers hundreds of types of water services under other
categories and contains a catalogue of measures that limits what
governments can do to conserve and protect water. Canada also wants all
member countries to eliminate restrictions on national treatment and
market access to water services.
Already, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are
aggressively promoting water privatization in developing countries,
opening the door for huge transnational water corporations to profit from
water delivery and wastewater treatment. Under this new WTO provision, a
domestic rule that protects water as a public service and a human right
could be considered a "non-tariff barrier" to trade and eliminated. So
could rules that limit privatization.
Water is clearly a "good" in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT). Article 11 already rules out any quantitative restrictions on the
export of a good, but allows tariff measures, such as taxes or dual price
systems. But the new text proposes to do away with such export controls,
making it illegal to restrict the export of bulk water for commercial
purposes.
Article 32 (also added that last morning) says that 31, iii, must be
"compatible with" other WTO rules, particularly the Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS), which sets
constraints on government polices relating to animal and plant health,
including biological contaminants -- and the Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT), set up to ensure that nations do not use
"non-tariff barriers" (such as environmental laws) in a way that
interferes with trade liberalization.
This means that domestic standards to protect water could be challenged by
subsuming the trade in environmental services to these already dangerous
WTO agreements.
These are not the only threats to the environment in the Doha text.
Article 31, i, (also new) attempts to clarify and codify the rules between
the WTO and multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). But, no sooner
are MEAs recognized (a development long sought by environmentalists) than
the text exempts any country not a signatory to a MEA.
The U.S., for example, has not ratified the Kyoto or the Biosafety
Protocols, and would not be bound by any WTO recognition of their trade
provisions. In fact, this new provision would act as a disincentive for
any country to sign a new MEA; it could benefit from the environmental
good deeds of others, but be under no obligation to take action itself.
The delegates also agreed to broad new provisions on market access, which
will speed up free trade in logging, mining, fishing and other natural
resources. And the agreement on intellectual property (TRIPS) will
continue to threaten biological diversity and conservation measures and
permit the patenting of life forms, including plants, seeds, genes and
animals.
The Doha round was forged under duress; already the North and South blocs
disagree on what was agreed to. Civil society has two years before the
next meeting to discredit this profoundly undemocratic and environmentally
devastating deal.
Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and
attended the Qatar meeting as an NGO observer.
Copyright © 2001 Globe Interactive
============================================================
How to Use this Mailing List
============================================================
You received this e-mail as a result of your registration on the right-to-water mailing list.
To unsubscribe, please send an email to listserv@iatp.org. In the body of the message type:
unsubscribe right-to-water
For a list of other commands and list options, please send email to listserv@iatp.org.
In the body of the message type:
help
Please direct content questions about this list to: mritchie@iatp.org
Please direct technical questions about this service to: support@iatp.org
----- End of forwarded message from mritchie@iatp.org -----