[asia-apec 1164] Food First Action Alert: NAFTA for AFRICA

[Anuradha Mittal]

ACTION ALERT - ACTION ALERT
>
>Possible vote on THE "NAFTA for AFRICA Bill" next week!
>Call your Member of Congress toll-free at
>1-888-449-3511 (or long distance 202-224-3121) TODAY
>
>The NAFTA for Africa bill, the so-called African Growth and Opportunity
>Act (H.R. 434), was marked up in the Ways and Means Committee on June
>10th. This means that it could go to the floor anytime, and rumors on
>Capitol Hill say that we could see it on the floor of the House as early
>as next week!
>
>Get to the phones and call your Member of Congress to *oppose* the NAFTA
>for Africa Bill. Get your friends & family & networks to do the same. Call
>early - call often, and let us know what you hear from your Member's
>office.
>
>Talking Points:
>_______________
>
>	The "NAFTA for Africa" bill (H.R. 434) provides no debt relief to
>the Sub-Saharan countries, it sets no requirements to use African labor,
>and it ignores the AIDS crises in Africa. It grants extensive rights and
>benefits to multinational corporations operating in Africa, but requires
>nothing of them with respect to workers and protection of the environment.
>H.R. 434 requires the African countries to meet a long list of U.S.
>imposed, IMF-style conditions (like slashing spending in areas like health
>and education). It also requires the sub-Saharan countries to open their
>markets to foreign speculators and multinational corporations, similar to
>the MAI-model.
>
>	Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s forward-looking "HOPE for Africa Act"
>(H.R.  772), promotes equitable, sustainable and sovereign African
>development. The key elements of the "HOPE Act" are unconditional debt
>relief, self-determination of economic and social policies best suited to
>meet the needs of African people, requirements to employ African workers
>and to have African ownership. It also requires foreign corporations
>operating in Africa to pay a living wage and operate by the same labor and
>environmental standards as they do in their home countries. Failure to do
>so results in barring of the products of the offending corporation from
>import to the US.
>
>______________________________________________________________________
>
>The NAFTA for Africa Bill is a model example of a failed trade policy.
>Urge your Member to oppose H.R. 434 when it comes to a vote.
>
>For more information about the NAFTA for Africa Bill and the HOPE for
>Africa Act, check out our web page: www.tradewatch.org, or call any
>member of the Global Trade Watch Field team at 202-546-4996.
>
>CALL CONGRESS TOLL-FREE 1-888-449-3511 (or long distance 202-224-3121)

Anuradha Mittal
Policy Director
Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First
398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94618 USA
Phone: (510) 654-4400  Fax: (510) 654-4551
http://www.foodfirst.org