1. Still no agreement on WTO draft for Doha
2. French Government calls for delay in WTO Ministerial Meeting; French Prime Minister supports Tobin Tax
3. US-Australia Free Trade Agreement delayed: more time to send your letter to the Minister
4. Please send urgent letter to Germany’s Chancellor Schroeder on Environmental Agreement for Export Credit Agencies by Monday 17 September

Sydney: Coming Events

5. Conference: Corporate Power or Peoples’ Power? Transnational Corporations and Globalisation 27, 28, 29 September, University of Technology, Harris St, Sydney
6. Political Parties debate Trade and Aid Policy, Tues Oct 9, Pitt St Uniting Church, Sydney

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7. Action for World Development (AFTINET member) seeks sub-tenant

1. Still no agreement on WTO draft for Doha

The WTO is increasingly desperate to gain agreement to its agenda for the Ministerial Meeting to be held in Doha, Qatar, in November.

An informal meeting of representatives of 18 WTO member governments in Mexico convened by the WTO last week failed to endorse the WTO agenda. Some delegates reported that the US was very aggressive, saying that developing countries wanted unilateral concessions and that developed  countries had done a lot already. The reaction to this has been disbelief since none of the issues on implementation of current agreements raised by developing countries before and since Seattle have been resolved.

On September 3 the Chair of an informal WTO Council meeting, Stuart Harbinson of Hong Kong, said that he would conduct intensive consultation with WTO members over the following 10 days for the Doha Draft. These consultations will be conducted in small groups and one on one with the aim of completing a draft by the end of the month. This was a change from the previous goal of a draft by mid-September.

2. French Government calls for delay in WTO Ministerial Meeting; French Prime Minister supports Tobin Tax

In another blow to WTO hopes on the Doha agenda, France surprised its European Union partners meeting in Bruges on September 7 by calling for a one-year delay in WTO talks, reported Robert Weillaard for Associated Press.

French Trade Minister Francois Huvart told EU colleagues that he doubts that the World Trade Organisation 142 member states can agree on which markets should be opened up during a Nov. 9-13 meeting in Doha, Qatar.

The one-year delay would give negotiators extra time to take into account the trade needs of the world's poorest nations, he said.

The French position bared a rift within the 15-nation EU on the how to move toward a new round of trade talks. France has presidential elections next May, and some EU officials said the French prefer to delay WTO talks because of electoral concerns.

A week earlier there were separate reports that Lionel Jospin, French prime minister, announced support for moves to impose a 1 per cent levy on cross-frontier movements of capital, known as the "Tobin tax".

The Socialist premier said in a television interview that France would be making an initiative at September’s meeting of EU finance ministers. At the request of Belgium, a discussion of the Tobin tax - named after its originator James Tobin, the liberal US economist - is already on the agenda.

This is the first time the leader of a big industrial nation has accepted the idea of such a tax on capital movements as part of government policy. If France does press for the tax it would be unlikely to be accepted by other European governments. Proceeds would be used to aid development of poor countries.

Mr Jospin has shown a growing interest in the issues raised by the anti-globalisation movement, aware this sector of the electorate needs to be cultivated ahead of next year's presidential and parliamentary elections. Such initiatives have been supported by some 170 deputies in the French parliament.

3. US-Australia Free Trade Agreement delayed: more time to send your letter to the Minister

After meeting with John Howard on September 11 in Washington, President George W. Bush made it clear that a free trade agreement was not on the immediate agenda for the US, but flagged that some talks may take place later this year.

This is good news for community organisations concerned about the lack of community consultation on the proposed agreement and about Australia’s lack of bargaining power. The US has an agenda of reducing Australia’s foreign investment regulation, quarantine regulation and Australian media content regulation. We now have more time for campaigning. If you have not already done so, please read the campaign material and send the letter to the Minister.

4. Please send urgent letter to Germany’s Chancellor Schroeder on Environmental Agreement for Export Credit Agencies by Monday 17 September

BACKGROUND:

Negotiations have continued for more than two years at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for an environmental agreement for Export Credit and Investment Insurance Agencies (ECAs). These negotiations represent an important first step toward binding, stringent, internationally accepted and common social, environmental and human rights standards for ECAs. ECAs are the world's largest sources of public finance for destructive large-scale infrastructure projects in low income countries. They are responsible for more than half of all official low income country debt.

It appears imminent that the negotiations will collapse with no agreement reached. Germany has been the main obstacle. NGOs actively campaigning for ECA reform are asking NGOs internationally with interests in social justice, human rights and environmental justice to endorse a letter to Chancellor Schroeder calling on him to show leadership by changing Germany's approach to the negotiations. The letter along with initial endorsements is below.

EMAIL ENDORSEMENT TO: Liam Phelan (for ANPED The Northern Alliance for Sustainability) by Monday September 17 to liamp@unsw.edu.au

The letter with all endorsements will be sent to Chancellor Schroeder on Monday 17 September and will also be available here at www.eca-watch.org, the website of the international campaign for ECA reform.

PLEASE INCLUDE: *your organisation name and *the country in which you are based

THE LETTER:

Monday 17 September 2001

Dear Mr Schroeder,

re: German position on negotiations for an environmental agreement for Export Credit and Investment Insurance Agencies (ECAs) at the OECD

When you were elected three years ago, NGOs and citizens around the world who are concerned about the environment and human rights had high hopes that you would provide international leadership on these issues. On Export Credit and Investment Insurance Agency (ECA) reform however, the obstructionist behaviour of Germany in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) negotiations toward an environmental agreement has been to date quite surprising and disappointing.

Specifically, your government has been a consistent blockage of negotiations to achieve public disclosure of environmental impact assessments, consultation with affected communities, and adherence to minimum internationally accepted and binding standards such as those of the European Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank. Germany is a member of each of these bodies and supports along with other governments the exact policy safeguards that your Government is currently opposing for ECAs at the OECD. This is terribly surprising and disappointing given Germany's domestic practice of advanced environmental diligence.

Export Credit and Insurance Investment Agencies (ECAs) have become the largest sources of public finance for large and heavy impact infrastructure and industrial projects in the developing world. Many of these projects are bringing about social and environmental destruction. A few examples of these projects, financed or insured by ECAs from a number of OECD member states include:

• the Three Gorges Dam currently under construction in China which requires the displacement on 1.9 million people;
• the catastrophic Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea which has destroyed the livelihoods of 30,000 people living around and downstream from the mine site and is the subject of continuing legal action;
• the risky Angra 2 nuclear power plant in Brazil which carries estimated construction costs of $US10b and is unlikely to prove economically viable over any timeframe;
• the Bolivia to Brazil 'Cuiaba' pipeline project that has irreversibly damaged tropical forests and disrespected the rights of indigenous peoples in favour of multinational fossil fuel corporations through an illegitimate conservation fund, and;
• Indonesian pulp and paper projects as Indah Kiat, which has caused environmental destruction through illegal logging to feed the mill and health hazards to local communities through the release of toxic effluents from the mill into local water courses.

The severe environmental and human rights impacts of these and many similar projects around the world go hand in hand with significant contributions to crippling debt levels for many low income countries. Recent negotiations at the OECD have centred around achieving the most basic internationally accepted norms for transparency and public participation in the environmental impact assessment of projects supported by ECAs. These negotiations represent a critical first step towards ECA reform internationally. It is therefore deeply troubling that the German Government is obstructing progress at the OECD on even the basic internationally accepted norms for transparency, public participation and binding environmental standards.

The US' ECAs have managed to subscribe to binding environmental standards for some time without detriment to the US economy. Other countries such as Japan are currently moving forward to increased transparency and higher environmental standards for their ECAs. Germany's obstructionism threatens its reputation for international environmental leadership.

Mr. Schroeder, we look to you to implement progressive change in the German Government's approach on this issue. We call on you to show your leadership for environmental protection and the respect of human rights in the continuing negotiations at the OECD in the next months. Germany must participate in a more responsible way in these negotiations and support prior information disclosure, consultation with affected communities and binding environmental standards.

For more information, we encourage you to contact German environment and development organisations that are active on this issue. These groups are part of a broader international campaign comprising in excess of 300 groups in more than 50 countries. The goals of this campaign are expressed in the Jakarta Declaration which is attached for your reference. More information on this campaign and progress of other ECAs around the world is available for reference at www.eca-watch.org.

INITIAL ENDORESEMENTS:

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The conference is aimed at developing common perspectives on TNCs across NGOs in the region, creating complementary research agendas, agreeing on common priorities for research and campaigning. In doing so, the conference will play a key role in stimulating regional and Australian political debates on how to act against corporate globalisation.

Keynote speakers include: Sharon Beder, Wollongong University; Doug Cameron, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union; Tony Clarke, Polaris Institute (Canada); Jacqui Katona, Aboriginal Activist; Moses Havini, Bougainville Freedom Movement; Rafael Mariano, BAYAN (the Philippines); Kavaljit Singh, Public Interest Research Centre (India); Tony Tujan, Ibon Foundation (the Philippines).

Cost: $200, $100 Concession (includes lunches and coffees/teas). Day rates and further concessions are available on request.

How to register: Visit the APRN website: www.aprnet.org, or the Aid/Watch site, www.aidwatch.org.au, and follow the links for the APRN's third annual conference.

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6. Political Parties debate Trade and Aid Policy, Tues Oct 9, Pitt St Uniting Church, Sydney

Free Trade or Fair Trade? Globalisation, Trade and Aid: a political debate

Tuesday 9 th October, 6.00 - 8.30pm, Pitt St Uniting Church, 264 Pitt St, Sydney.

Speakers:

Representative of the Minister for Trade
Senator Peter Cook, ALP Shadow Minister for Trade
Senator Vicki Bourne, Australian Democrats
Ms Kerry Nettle, NSW Greens Senate Candidate

Chair: Rev. Dorothy McRae-McMahon, ABC Broadcaster and writer

Come and voice your concerns!

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7. Action for World Development seek sub-tenants

The AWD Centre, 2 minutes walk from Central Station, has space to let from one desk to 2 rooms or anything in between.

*1 desk: Desk/phone space plus access to shared course/meeting space and office facilities within the AWD Centre including photocopier, fax and kitchen facilities. $200 per month including GST (price negotiable).

*1 room: 20 square metre office, plus access to shared course/meeting space and office facilities within the AWD Centre including photocopier, fax and kitchen facilities. $820 per month including GST (price negotiable).

AWD (Action for World Development) is a community based education organisation that focuses on Aboriginal social justice, permaculture, ecologically sustainable development and fair trade.

The AWD Centre contains a library, course/meeting space and office facilities. For more information ring AWD on 92125275 or email: awd.mail@idx.com.au

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