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Full scale of WTO challenge to health and environment revealed
Friends of the Earth International today publishes a revised analysis of the
World Trade Organization's newest threat to national laws protecting the
environment, social well-being and health [1].
An increased number of governments [2] are now understood to be using the
the WTO's non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations [3], to make a
breath-taking total of 212 challenges to the laws of other countries.
This sweeping attack on government policy-making is now known to also
include challenges to the following measures [4]:
* Policies that promote energy efficiency in household appliances, air
conditioning units and heating (China, which lists a range of EU
directives);
* the European Union's CE Marking scheme (which ensures imports comply with
the essential requirements of EU health, safety and environmental protection
laws) (China);
* the Australia Heart Foundation's 'Tick' Scheme which approves healthy food
products (Malaysia);
* requirements to label canned and processed seafood products if they have
more than 1% genetically-modified ingredients (Thailand);
* restrictions on trade in wild animals and products made from them (China,
but India also says "These [animal rights] campaigns could have various
motivations not necessarily based on truth");
* measures used to implement International Organization for
Standardization1s ISO 14000 and ISO 8000 standards on environmental
management systems and working conditions respectively (India);
* in relation to forestry, building codes and safety standards, measures
designed to assist small farmers, government subsidies for education,
training and forest research (New Zealand);
* restrictions on the use of heavy metals, such as cadmium, lead and
chromium in the production of electronic appliances (Thailand); and
* certain trade measures used to implement the Convention on Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) (the Philippines) and the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Malaysia).
"It's quite incredible that WTO members could have spent three years quietly
developing this wish-list of national laws that businesses would like to see
swept aside, seemingly oblivious to the public outrage that will inevitably
result. The NAMA negotiations finally expose the WTO for what it is an
institution set up specifically to promote a corporate development agenda."
said Ronnie Hall of Friends of the Earth International.
Contacts:
In the UK:
Ronnie Hall
Friends of the Earth International
+44 1243 602 756
mailto:ronnieh@foe.co.uk
In Brussels:
Alexandra Wandel
Friends of the Earth Europe
+49 172 748 3953
mailto:alexandra.wandel@foeeurope.org
In Washington DC:
David Waskow
Friends of the Earth US
+1 202 222 0716
mailto:dwaskow@foe.org
In Montevideo:
Alberto Villarreal
Friends of the Earth Uruguay
+598-5228481
mailto:comerc@redes.org.uy
Notes:
[1] The original Friends of the Earth International analysis focused on
government notifications made in 2004 and 2005. The updated analysis
includes government notifications from 2003. Full details can be found in
'Analysis of Notifications of Non-tariff Barriers in Non-agricultural
Market Access (NAMA) Negotiations of the WTO' can be viewed at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/ntbsanalysis.pdf
http://www.foei.org/trade/NTBsanalysis.doc
and the Database of Selected Notifications which can be viewed at:
http://www.foei.org/trade/NTBs.xls (search the database)
www.foe.co.uk/resource/evidence/non_tariff_barriers.pdf (print the database)
Please note that this analysis is not exhaustive. Furthermore, it does not
indicate FOEI endorsement of all specific listed non-tariff measures.
Rather, it is intended to illustrate the scale of the current corporate
challenge to health and environmental legislation and local economic
development in a wide range of sectors under the NAMA negotiations
[2] Governments formally challenging environmental and health standards so
far include Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, European
Communities, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
and the ACP countries.
[3] The WTO's Negotiating Group on Market Access is scheduled to meet in
Geneva on June 6.
[4] Note that the WTO's public documentation excludes information about
which member states' legislation is being challenged. However, this can in
some case be inferred from the language used by the challenging country.
Friends of the Earth
Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the
protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local
groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network,
Friends of the Earth International.
