From notoapec at clear.net.nz Wed Aug 1 12:34:30 2001 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (APEC Monitoring Group) Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 15:34:30 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1789] Fast track (US trade neg authority) stalled for now Message-ID: <001901c11a3a$e50dd980$a3cfa7cb@notoapec> [NYT] JUL 31, 2001 Bush Fails to Win Support On Hill for 'Fast Track' Trade By ALISON MITCHELL WASHINGTON, July 31 - Saying they did not have enough votes to prevail this week on President Bush's top trade priority, Republican leaders of the House today postponed until the fall the effort to grant the president broad authority to negotiate new trade agreements. The delay on the contentious issue of trade bought the administration time for more negotiations with moderate Democrats whose support will be critical for its success in the House. And it allowed Republicans to focus all their might on getting votes for the president's energy plan and a patient's bill of rights as Congress pushes toward a summer recess. "The long and short of it is we don't have enough Democratic votes," said Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the House majority leader, as he announced that the Republicans had dropped plans to hold the trade vote this week. Mr. Bush, like President Bill Clinton before him, is seeking the power to negotiate free trade agreements that could not be amended by the Senate. Once such trade pacts have been concluded with another country, the Senate's only role would be to approve them or reject them on an up-or-down vote. Mr. Bush, a fierce proponent of such trade authority, said last week that he wanted Congress to act "pretty darn quickly." But in a meeting with a key Republican he also modified that stance, saying he considered it crucial to have additional powers to negotiate trade deals in time for a World Trade Organization conference in Qatar in November which could start a new round of global trade talks. Last week, Mr. Bush argued that he needed the trade authority "for the good of the American people, for the good of the agricultural sector, so I can use my efforts to knock down the trade barriers, the protectionist tendencies around the world that prevent our products from getting into markets." But the difficulties he faces were on full display even as the House approved by voice vote a trade pact with Jordan today. Democrats used the debate to voice their distrust of the Bush administration's willingness to push for labor and environmental protections as part of trade agreements. And the Jordan bill is stalled in the Senate because Republicans believe it goes too far in its consideration of labor and environmental issues. From ircalb at swcp.com Thu Aug 9 03:27:03 2001 From: ircalb at swcp.com (Interhemispheric Resource Center) Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2001 12:27:03 -0600 Subject: [asia-apec 1790] Indonesia, Vietnam, Self-determination Message-ID: <5.0.2.1.2.20010808122525.00a7e510@swcp.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/asia-apec/attachments/20010808/10a2f94b/attachment.html From ircalb at swcp.com Sat Aug 11 05:23:08 2001 From: ircalb at swcp.com (Interhemispheric Resource Center) Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 14:23:08 -0600 Subject: [asia-apec 1791] Two Worlds of Abu Sayyaf Message-ID: <5.0.2.1.2.20010810141759.00a82090@swcp.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/asia-apec/attachments/20010810/8711ce5b/attachment.html From ircalb at swcp.com Wed Aug 15 07:15:06 2001 From: ircalb at swcp.com (Interhemispheric Resource Center) Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 16:15:06 -0600 Subject: [asia-apec 1792] Korea: Liberation and Self-determination Message-ID: <5.0.2.1.2.20010814161306.00a81e20@swcp.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/asia-apec/attachments/20010814/ce1b8235/attachment.html From amittal at foodfirst.org Tue Aug 21 02:20:35 2001 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:20:35 +0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1793] Urgent Action Needed--Sri Lankan GE Imports Ban May be Lifted Indefinite Message-ID: <0.700000824.803237912-951758591-998328037@topica.com> *******URGENT ALERT******** ****You Can HELP NOW - PLEASE ACT TODAY AND FORWARD THIS TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS**** According to the Environmental Foundation Ltd Sri Lanka/ FoE Sri Lanka, the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine has appointed an advisory committee to the Sri Lankan government with the possible intention of lifting the ban of imported GE food indefinitely!!!! This new committee has been formed without the knowledge of the Food Advisory Committee (FAC), also within the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine. The call for a ban on imported GE foods was originally put forward by the FAC. The new committee has been formed as a response to intense pressure from Embassies and the private trade sector. We understand the committee has been requested to make a recommendation to the government to potentially delay the ban indefinitely by THURSDAY THIS WEEK. ****YOU CAN HELP NOW**** Millions of farmers, consumers and people's organisations working for safe food around the world are adamantly opposed to the genetic modification of food, its development and commercialisation. As much pressure as possible must be exerted immediately on the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine and the Sri Lankan government to uphold the ban on GE foods put forward by the FAC. Express your concern today over the potential: *Lifting of one of the most progressive GE-free legislative measures in the world to date, due to pressure exerted by both international and national pro-GE interests that have no concern for public health and the wellbeing of the environment. *For Sri Lanka to become a dumping and testing ground for GE foods that have not been proven safe for human consumption. Call upon the Sri Lankan government to uphold its position despite the intense pressures being exerted upon it. The Sri Lankan government has every right to protect its people from the potential and unknown impacts of GMOs and for considering the ethical and moral objections people may have over GE foods and other products. ****URGENT**** Please email: Secretary, Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine, "Suwasiripaya" 385 Wimalawansa Mawatha, Colombo, 10, Sri Lanka. E-mail: sechim@sltnet.lk Please Fax: President Chandrika Kumaratunga c/o Presidential Secretariat, Colombo, 01 Sri Lanka. Fax: +941 333 703/ +941 446 657 The Honorable John Seneviratne, Minister of Health , Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine, Colombo, 01, Sri Lanka. Fax: +941 694 227 For you reference, the letter sent to the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine and a Press Release by the Environmental Foundation Ltd Sri Lanka/ FoE Sri Lanka, is attached below. August 14, 2001 Secretary, Ministry of Health "Suwasiripaya" 385 Wimalawansa Mawatha Colombo 10 Dear Sir, Environmental Foundation is a non-profit public interest organization working towards the conservation of the environment through legal means. As a citizens group we are very concerned on the issues related to the Sri Lankan regulation to ban Genetically Modified Foods (GMFs) and the U.S. Government's pressure on the Sri Lankan Government on the same. We believe that genetically modified foods constitute are an untested and uncertain area and that Sri Lanka should not become a testing ground for such products. We are amazed to learn that you have appointed a committee to look into this ban, and we understand the aim of this committee is to move towards moving the ban so courageously promulgated by the Food Advisory Committee (FAC) of the your own Ministry. We also understand that this committee has been appointed without the knowledge of the members of the FAC. Earlier, EFL applauded the FAC for their persistence and courage in going ahead with a ban, in spite of international threats to challenge Sri Lanka's move before the World Trade Organization. EFL has also written to the UN Human Rights Commission against the U.S. action and also has written to the U.S. President, asking to refrain from involving his nation in Sri Lanka's GMO ban as this would amount to interference with Sri Lanka's sovereignty. Genetically modified foods are still untested and so far have not been proved safe consumption. It is deplorable that the government is willing to put economic gain and succumb to the international pressures of both international and local parties who have no care for the public health. We therefore express profound disappointment at your actions, which will directly threaten the health and safety of the Sri Lankan public. This will set Sri Lanka back after it took such an advanced step applauded by activists everywhere. Six months were already given to the private trade sector to come into line with the ban, and it was aware of the move for at least a year. We therefore urge you to let this ban go ahead on September 1, in accordance with the present regulations, and not to succumb to the unreasonable demands either of a mercenary few or of countries who have no right to interfere or threaten Sri Lanka's sovereign right to protect her citizens. Yours faithfully, Hemantha Withanage Executive Director ----------------------------------------- August 9, 2001 PRESS RELEASE Environmental Foundation Ltd. has learned that the government is moving to lift the ban on genetically modified foods, a ban that had been courageously promulgated by the Food Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Ministry of Health. It is understood that the Secretary to the same Ministry has gone over the heads of these members, and has appointed a committee without their knowledge, with a view to lift the ban enshrined in regulations set forth early this year. It is also understood that this meeting is being called because of specific requests by the private trade sector and embassies here in Sri Lanka. Earlier, EFL applauded the FAC for their persistence and courage in going ahead with a ban, in spite of international threats to challenge Sri Lanka's move before the World Trade Organization. EFL has also written to the UN Human Rights Commission against the U.S. action and also has written to the U.S. President, asking to refrain from involving his nation in Sri Lanka's GMO ban as this would amount to interference with Sri Lanka's sovereignty. Genetically modified foods are still untested and so far have not been proved safe consumption. It is deplorable that the government is willing to put economic gain and succumb to the international pressures of both international and local parties who have no care for the public health. EFL therefore condemns the high-handed action of the Secretary in taking such an insupportable action that directly threatens the health and safety of the Sri Lankan public. _________________________________ Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst@foodfirst.org. ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?aVxil2.aVxCnz Or send an email To: fianusa-news-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com This email was sent to: asia-apec@jca.ax.apc.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ From notoapec at clear.net.nz Tue Aug 28 15:43:56 2001 From: notoapec at clear.net.nz (GATT Watchdog) Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 18:43:56 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1794] Mike's Masquerades (from www.zmag.org) Message-ID: <006301c12f8c$d87a38a0$e4cca7cb@apecgrou> Mike's Masquerades By Aziz Choudry "The tide is high but I'm holding on, I'm gonna be your number one, I'm not the kind of guy who gives up just like that..." Mike Moore, two-thirds of the way through his stint as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation is crooning to the Third World - and anyone else who might be listening - again. Commenting on the "Battle of Seattle" Moore said: "The people that stand outside and say they work in the interests of the poorest people ...they make me want to vomit. Because the poorest people on our planet, they are the ones that need us the most." If I hear Mike masquerading as champion of the world's poor again I will probably puke. As a long-serving politician down under, New Zealanders concerned about the WTO's global free market economic agenda are grimly familiar with his political and economic views. He is frequently described - rather grandly - as "a former Prime Minister of New Zealand". Few realise that this was for a mere eight weeks before his Labour government's resounding loss to the National Party in the 1990 elections. Now Moore has other worries. November's WTO Ministerial Meeting in Qatar may not end with an agreement to initiate another round of multilateral trade negotiations. Without this, he says, "the WTO will be condemned to irrelevancy for quite some time". Backed by the USA, Moore began a three-year post as head of the WTO in September 1999 after a job-sharing compromise arrangement ended an acrimonious deadlock with the Thai contender, Supachai Panitchpakdi. That month he told an African trade ministers conference in Algiers that he was "a citizen of a very small country", "I want to be your Ambassador in Geneva", and could advocate for smaller, poorer countries at the WTO. His speech shocked many in the audience. It totally ignored Africa's realities and concerns about globalisation, instead campaigning for a new round of negotiations and a raft of new issues - to which the African nations had clearly stated their opposition. The African ministers did not want to be "sidelined and rejected" again, and issued a statement clearly opposing a new round. Ghanaian economist Tetteh Hormeku described Moore's Algiers address as a "travesty". Moore's claims to be a champion for the world's poor do not sit well with his disregard for the human costs of applying free market ideology in his own country. More recently he has not been successful in winning over increasingly sceptical Third World members of the WTO who question the benefits of the last round of GATT negotiations. Many of them have consistently sought a moratorium on further trade negotiations at the WTO until there has been a review and assessment of existing agreements. Moore's economic fundamentalism has probably not helped the WTO. Nearly two years after the failure of the Seattle meeting to launch a "Millennium round", the tide is indeed high. The WTO membership is just as polarised between those who want a new round of multilateral trade talks and those who do not. While the US, the EU and others are expected to increase pressure for a new round, the majority of the WTO's 142 member countries are not prepared to agree that the November meeting initiate negotiations towards new rules or agreements on new issues. Ministers from least developed countries met in Zanzibar this July and rejected a new round of negotiations and reiterated a demand for a review of existing WTO commitments. Reporting on the positions of "developing" countries at a 30-31 July WTO General Council informal "stocktaking" meeting, Third World Network's Martin Khor wrote: "When they face so many problems in existing agreements why should they agree to enter negotiations in new areas that will land them with new obligations which they will then have more problems in trying to implement?" Yet Moore is not listening. Instead he says "I want to be their (poor countries') champion inside the round" and asks, "Can I be politically incorrect? Just because the great economic powers want something, that does not automatically make it wrong." At the WTO, Moore has learnt little of the realities of the majority of the world's population. But then again, he claims the WTO job is "a walk in the park compared to internal Labour politics". When it suits, Moore claims leftwing internationalism as a shared tradition of the WTO: In July 2000 he told the International Union of Socialist Youth Festival in Malmo, Sweden, "We on the Left have a lot to be proud of. We built the welfare state that looks after people when they are sick, poor, or old. We fought for the equality of women and minorities. We argued passionately for internationalism, for solidarity between workers in Sweden and those in Africa .... I am, and always will be, a Labour man". Moore's Labour is the version embodied by the 1984-90 New Zealand long before Blair's "New" Labour ruled Britain. It was, The Economist wrote "the sort of socialism of which millionaires approve..." a "free-market experiment in socialist sheep's clothing". The 1984-1990 Labour Governments in which Moore was Minister for Overseas Trade (and briefly, Prime Minister) implemented the most radical economic reforms that any OECD country had ever seen. Many cheered the government on for its anti-nuclear policy. Few realised the implications of the economic changes being unleashed. While many were lulled into a false sense of security by Labour's multisectoral "consultation" on social and economic issues, few predicted the ruthless imposition of sweeping reforms which had never been part of its election manifesto. In 1988, The Economist described this period as "out-Thatchering Mrs Thatcher". A New Zealand business weekly compared it to Pinochet's Chile "without the gun". Between 1988 and 1993, New Zealand led the world in the sale of state-owned assets, often at bargain basement prices, to overseas investors, mostly transnational corporations. Some NZ $14 billion (from a total $19 billion in asset sales from 1987-1999) was sold off during these years. The market value of the assets sold to overseas investors since 1987 is equivalent to about two-thirds of the worth of New Zealand's top 200 companies. The Labour Party programme - dubbed "Rogernomics" after former Finance Minister, Roger Douglas - included unilateral and rapid removal of virtually all restrictions on foreign investment, all import controls and most tariffs, floating the NZ dollar, an independent Reserve Bank with the exclusive objective to control inflation, extensive programs of corporatisation and privatisation, and radical restructuring of the public sector. The first major steps to deregulate the labour market also began under Labour. New Zealand went into recession with the highest unemployment since the 1930s depression. The number of New Zealanders estimated to be below the poverty line rose by at least 35% between 1989 and 1992. By 1993 one in six New Zealanders was considered to be living in poverty. Nearly 76000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector between 1986 and 1992 (25% of all manufacturing jobs) - many directly due to aggressive tariff reduction. As National Party governments pushed on further with this economic model in the 1990s, the human costs of implementing "globalisation as ideology" intensified. During Moore's time as Trade Minister, the New Zealand government became an enthusiastic activist for agricultural trade liberalization in the Uruguay Round of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). Moore was regarded as "one of America's best allies" by the US special trade negotiators in agricultural matters. A February 1999 US government document "Scenesetter for FBI Director Freeh's Visit to New Zealand", recently obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act states "we have no better friend than New Zealand in our push to open markets and liberalize trade worldwide. We work hand-in-glove in APEC and at the World Trade Organization (WTO)." While some Labour Party members have tried distancing themselves from their involvement in the New Zealand market experiment, hoping to bring back many of its traditional supporters who felt betrayed and alienated by the 1980s reforms, Moore has not. This is the legacy which Mike Moore left in New Zealand and some of the historical baggage he brings to his WTO position. The relentless pursuit of free market goals which he engaged in back home has continued throughout his first two years of his WTO role. Even in opposition - between 1990 and the time he took up the WTO post - Moore remained one of New Zealand's most zealous exponents of free trade. Following yet another election defeat and an bitter internal coup which removed him as Labour leader, in April 1994, he attended the final signing of the GATT Uruguay Round agreements in Marrakesh which led to the formation of the WTO. His presence stymied any attempts within the Labour party and caucus to debate the benefits of free trade and investment. He rarely missed a chance to wax lyrical about the supposed wonders of free trade and investment and to attack critics of globalisation. Mike Moore is a genuine free market evangelist. New Zealand media had long dubbed him "Mad Mike". One journalist described him as having ten ideas a minute but not being sure which was the good one. In 1996, as Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and trade, he railed maniacally at New Zealand critics of free trade, dubbing them "primitives who if they had their way would plunge our nation and the region into chaos and depression" and "grumpy geriatric communists...a mutant strain of the left... who tuck their shirts into their underpants." Now as the mouthpiece of the WTO he is seeking "civilised discourse" with NGOs.... In 1997, he claimed all Parliamentarians "except the terminally deranged" would support the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) which stalled at the OECD a year later. He is forever creating straw men to try to discredit critics of free trade and investment. Again referring to the anti-MAI campaign, "The left in New Zealand", he claimed, "have borrowed a lot of the literature and arguments used by the extreme right-wing militia type in the United States who believe there is a sinister group of people plotting away trying to make a World Government and deny people their individual and national rights." Curiously, this is the man who last year, on a brief return visit to New Zealand, lamented "There's something about our country. We've always got a bad word to say about each other". Moore was a Member of New Zealand's Parliament (MP) for all but three years since 1972 - most of his adult life. Yet some international media characterised Moore as a feisty trade unionist. Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University professor and economic policy adviser to the GATT Director-General from 1991-93, said Moore's "union background might make him seem sympathetic to labour standards being linked to trade within WTO negotiations". Bill Rosenberg, a New Zealand foreign investment analyst and unionist wrote two years ago: "It is not clear where Moore got this reputation: he does not have it at home....The Labour Party originated from the union movement, and was heavily supported by it in gaining power in 1984, but its subsequent actions led many unions to disaffiliate themselves from it. Some MPs made attempts to retain the connections. "As a national union president in 1994, I regularly attended meetings in Christchurch (where Moore's electorate is situated) between local Labour MPs and union representatives. Though most other Labour MPs attended at various times, Moore never did. A recent check with a local union leader confirmed that he still has no contact with unionists, at least in the town of his constituency base". Successive New Zealand governments - Labour, National, and now a Labour-led coalition (ironically elected promising to reject freemarket fundamentalism in its domestic policies) have followed a programme placing this country at the extreme end of trade and investment liberalisation. For us the WTO agenda remains the New Zealand freemarket experiment writ large. And Mike still wants to be our number one.... From amittal at foodfirst.org Wed Aug 29 08:22:16 2001 From: amittal at foodfirst.org (Anuradha Mittal) Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 23:22:16 +0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1795] Use your Bush Tax Refund to Match Working Assets $ for $ Grant to Suppor Message-ID: <0.700000824.426542794-738719082-999040938@topica.com> Use your Bush Tax Refund to Match Working Assets $ for $ Grant to Support Food First! If you had federal taxes deducted from your paycheck last year you may receive a Bush tax rebate check of $300 or $600. You can use this money to support our fight for a fair and just world for all! Your gift of your tax rebate right now can double the impact of your gift -- Working Assets & GiveForChange will match your contribution dollar for dollar when you donate exactly $300 or $600 in a single transaction from now until November 1, 2001 on http://www.giveforchange.com/cgi-bin/GiveForChange.storefront/EN/product/IFD-13-2838167-00 If you want to donate, but can't give $300 or $600 you can make a secure donation from our web site www.foodfirst.org. Your tax-deductible donation to Food First helps us continue to challenge the dominance of corporate and international financial institutions at the expense of millions of working poor both here in the U.S. and worldwide. This is your opportunity to invest in critical analysis and education for action for global justice. Your support now can make a real difference. I invite you to put your unexpected cash to good use. Please call us at 510-654-4000 Ext 234 to donate by phone or mail your check to Food First at 398 60th St., Oakland, CA 94618. Please put Tax Rebate Campaign in the memo section of your check. Thanks for your generous support. In Solidarity, Anuradha Mittal Co Director Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst@foodfirst.org. ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?aVxil2.aVxCnz Or send an email To: fianusa-news-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com This email was sent to: asia-apec@jca.ax.apc.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================