1. AFTINET USFTA publication launch: 20 May at Parliament House, Sydney
2. Business Roundtable Readies P.R. Campaign To Back Global Trade Talks
3. New Oxfam report calls proposed WTO agreement on investment "a disaster for development"
4. African countries don’t want to start negotiating new issues in WTO
5. Political Economy Conference – University of Sydney, 9 May 2003
6. Workshop on the world water crisis and Australia’s water – Sydney, 31 May 2003

1. AFTINET USFTA publication launch: 20 May at Parliament House, Sydney

On Tuesday 20 May AFTINET will launch our new leaflet on the US Free Trade Agreement. This is the week that the next round of negotiations will be taking place. We will have speakers on the impacts of a USFTA on various areas of Australian life. Please join us if you can.

Where: The Jubilee Room, Parliament House, Macquarie St. Sydney

When: 12.00 pm to 1.00 pm. Tuesday 20^th May

Hosted by: Dr. Meredith Burgmann MLC, President of the Legislative Council.

• Dr. Patricia Ranald, Convenor of AFTINET
• Doug Cameron, National Secretary, AMWU, on the impact of the USFTA on labour
• Dr Peter Sainsbury, President, Public Health Association of Australia, on the impact on the PBS
• Richard Letts, Coalition for Cultural Diversity, on the impact of the USFTA on culture
• John Hepburn of Greenpeace, on the USFTA and Genetically Modified Organisms

AFTINET will have T-shirts with the ‘No US Free Trade Agreement’ logo on them available for $20.

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2. Business Roundtable Readies P.R. Campaign To Back Global Trade Talks

The Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading corporations. The website containing their press release regarding the following news report is at http://www.brtable.org/press.cfm/864

National Journal's Congress Daily
TRADE
by Keith Koffler, 22 April 2003

Leading business groups will soon begin a coordinated, multimillion dollar effort to stir up popular support for the current World Trade Organization round of trade negotiations, hoping to ensure completion of the round as scheduled by the end of next year. WTO negotiators last month failed to meet a key deadline in their talks on agriculture, and there is concern that disagreement over the war with Iraq and a variety of simmering trade disputes could push the talks off of their timetable. The negotiations are viewed as a hugely complex undertaking loaded with pitfalls, and anti-trade demonstrators in recent years have seized the spotlight at major trade meetings. The new effort to popularize the trade discussions was revealed Wednesday by Business Roundtable President John Castellani during an interview with Congress Daily.

The campaign, set to begin by early June, will be spearheaded by the BRT and its counterparts in Mexico, Canada, Europe and Japan. It will include initiatives such as advertising and discussions with editorial boards to gain "as much public awareness as possible of the benefits of a successful completion of the round," Castellani said, adding, "Some of the studies show that almost $3 trillion of wealth could be created by 2015 if we eliminate the preponderance of the tariffs and the barriers that are out there." Castellani indicated it was too early to pinpoint exactly how much would be spent, noting the campaign would be waged over a long period leading up to the scheduled end of the talks. Among the groups he said would be involved are the European Round Table of Industrialists, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the International Chamber of Commerce. While efforts will be coordinated and joint statements will be issued, each group will focus its drive within its own country, Castellani said.

Castellani also pledged to work "aggressively" to gain congressional approval of free trade deals with Chile and Singapore, both of which are likely to be considered this year. He said he had detected no serious harm done by Chile's refusal to support the U.S.-backed U.N. Security Council resolution that would have paved the way for the use of force in Iraq. Chile's decision provoked anger on Capitol Hill, and no date has been set for the United States and Chile to sign the completed treaty, after which congressional consideration could begin. While others in the business community have broached their own suggestions for further free trade agreements, Castellani declined to offer any suggestions, expressing satisfaction with deals Trade Representative Zoellick is pursuing with countries and regions such as Australia, South Africa, Morocco and Central America. "I think they're all good," he said.

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3. New Oxfam report calls proposed WTO agreement on investment "a disaster for development"

A new Oxfam briefing - The Emperor's New Clothes - argues that proposed investment rules would contribute to greater financial instability, hamper industrialisation and hurt human development in the world's poorest countries.

Oxfam's report says that OECD countries are failing to recognise the corporate social responsibility of their transnational corporations that are driving foreign direct investment today. For instance, OECD guidelines on corporate responsibility remain voluntary and the companies are not obliged to report progress on these guidelines.

The paper is available at :http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pdfs/pp030429_wto_investment.pdf

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4. African countries don’t want to start negotiating new issues in WTO

Third World Network Info Service on WTO Issues (Apr03/2)
23 April 2003
www.twnside.org.sg

A workshop on WTO issues was held on 2-5 April in Arusha (Tanzania), at which senior trade officials from 15 African countries participated. The workshop concluded with a statement on several topics, including the "Singapore issues" (investment, competition, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation).

The workshop statement said that the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun should decide that negotiations should not begin on the four "Singapore issues" but instead the process of clarification of each of the issues should continue in the respective working groups.

The workshop was organised by the Southern and Eastern African Trade Negotiations Institute (SEATINI). Among the participants were trade officials from ten countries, including Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Mauritius, Mozambique and Angola.

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5. Political Economy Conference – University of Sydney, 9 May 2003,

On Friday 9 May in Sydney there will be a conference on political economy. A number of the speakers are involved in issues concerning trade, and are members and supporters of AFTINET. Speakers and presenters include Pat Ranald (AFTINET), Don Sutherland (AMWU), Sally McManus (ASU), Genevieve Rankin (University of Western Sydney), James Goodman (UTS), Clive Hamilton (The Australia Institute), Eleanor Hall, (The World Today Co-presenter, ABC Radio), Tim Anderson (Sydney University), Ted Trainer (UNSW) and many others.

Friday 9 May, 2003
9am to 5pm - $20 / $10 conc.
'Education in Political Economy'
Darlington Centre, University of Sydney

Political economy challenges orthodox economics at many levels: in the realm of theory, in economic policy and in the broader understanding of community issues. This conference will bring together people who are concerned with political economic education. Registration is on the day for the conference and seating is limited so you should arrive early.

For more information, or to register your interest please contact Michele.Freeman@uts.edu.au

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WATER: THE SOURCE OF LIFE

The issues
The ethics
Envisioning a different way to live in the world
The water trade: privatising one of life’s basic necessities
Be the change you want to see: the path forward.

The Grail Centre, 22 McHatton Street, North Sydney,
Saturday 31 May, 2003, 10.30 – 4 p.m.
Contribution RSVP: Tuesday 27^th May
Waged $15.00, Unwaged $10.00, or what you can afford
Tel: (02) 9955 3053, Fax: (02) 9954 0697
Email: grailsydney@ozemail.com.au

Resource persons:
Sandra Menteith, (Oz GREEN)
Louise Southalan (AFTINET)

Tea/coffee will be available 10 -10. 30 am. and during the lunch break.
Bring your own lunch.

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