FW: Global Trade Watch E-Newsletter #34 - October 2005
3) GLOBAL TRADE NEWS
* BILATERAL AND REGIONAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS NEWS *
* Victa man warns on China trade deal (Oct 6) - A prominent figure in Melbourne's business community has lashed out at the Federal Government's push for a free trade agreement with China, claiming that it could destroy Victoria's struggling manufacturing sector. Ian Campbell, the managing director of GUD Holdings – the maker of Sunbeam home appliances and Victa lawnmowers – warned that an FTA with
* Keeping bugs out of
* Softening mad cow rules criticised (Sept 30) - Weakening Australia's mad cow disease regulations would be an act of economic insanity that would compromise biosecurity, a leading trade analyst says. Professor Linda Weiss, an expert in international economic relations at the
* Australia 'has right to reject produce' (Sept 29) - Australian farmers wanting to keep out Kiwi produce have found an unlikely ally in New Zealand's Green Party which believes that restricting imports is a sovereign right. But the Greens also believe
*
*Japanese FTA market access down played (Sept 22) - Australian farmers are being told they should not expect to get major concessions from a proposed free trade deal (FTA) with
* Australia seeks FTA with Korea (Sept 9) - Australia is urging South Korea to kick off negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) to facilitate a growing bilateral trade in raw materials, agricultural and manufactured goods, according to a senior Australian official. More: http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2687
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----- Original Message -----
From: Global Trade Watch
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 6:24 AM
Subject: Global Trade Watch E-Newsletter #34 - October 2005
Global Trade Watch E-Newsletter #34 - October 2005
Contents:
1) News from Global Trade Watch
2) Upcoming Events
3) Global Trade News
4) What Can You Do?
5) Website of the Month
6) Quote of the Month
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1) NEWS FROM GLOBAL TRADE WATCH
* GTW to Publish 3rd edition of WTO Guide
Exciting news: Global Trade Watch has decided to rewrite and republish our popular booklet “The World Trade Organisation: An Australian Guide”, last published in 2003. The new guide will have updates on the latest developments at the WTO and will be published in the weeks leading up to the WTO’s December 2005 ministerial in
If you enjoyed the 2003 guide and would like to help out this time around, there’s number of things you can do:
1) Help fund the guide by sending a cheque to Global Trade Watch,
2) Can you help distribute the guide in your workplace or community or family? If so, please email us at info@tradewatchoz.org with the number of booklets (A6 size) you would like us to send you, along with your postal address.
3) If you are a graphic designer who would be able to help us with the booklet’s layout during early November, please email us at info@tradewatchoz.org
We hope the guide will be on the streets by early December. Thanks for any help you can give to make this project a success!
* Win a free ticket to Enron movie: Join Global Trade Watch ASAP!
GTW is giving away 20 free tickets to “Enron: The smartest guys in the room” It’s the inside story behind the most infamous corporate fraud of all time: the Enron scandal. This givaway is with a big thanks to Dendy cinemas: http://www.dendy.com.au
Ten tickets will go to existing GTW members, and 10 tickets will go to the first ten people to post us a completed membership application. Joining GTW costs as little as $22, and your support helps us to campaign for environmentally sustainable and fair trade! Join by downloading an application form here: http://tradewatchoz.org/membership.pdf and posting it with your cheque or money order to us at:
* Neo-Liberal Economic Policies Bad for the Poor
A new report shows that the last 25 years of economic liberalisation have produced sharply reduced economic growth and reduced progress in health and education outcomes for low- and middle-income countries in comparison with previous decades. The “Scorecard on Development: 25 Years of Diminished Progress”, a report from the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, compares data on economic growth of the last 25 years (1980-2005) with the previous two decades (1960-1980). Analysing several social indicators, the report notices a decline in GDP per capita and reduced progress for the vast majority of countries on almost all of the social indicators. The authors argue that the prevailing model of privatisation, liberalisation and the free market "could be mistaken." Full Report: http://www.cepr.net/publications/development_2005_09.pdf
* UN Report: Free Trade in Agriculture "potentially devastating" for environment
Boosting global trade in agriculture could have "potentially devastating" impacts on the environment the UN Environment program (UNEP) has warned. UNEP said free trade agreements that fail to take account the environment can result in negative outcomes such as soil degradation, water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. "The environmental impacts of increased trade in agricultural products are potentially devastating, and countries must urgently establish policies to protect their natural resources as well as those that enable them to reap the economic and social benefits," UNEP declared. Overall, UNEP says, the main "winners" from trade liberalisation were importers, middlemen, and large-scale producers, while the "losers" tended to be local producers, particularly small-scale farmers. UNEP also said consumers were losers in some cases, since price reductions were not passed on to end buyers. Read more here: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=452&ArticleID=4953&l=en or read the full report here: http://www.unep.ch/etb/publications/intAssessment/RapSynRice.pdf
* DFAT calls for submissions on WTO negotiations
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has called for public submissions on
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2) UPCOMING EVENTS
* 19 & 20 Nov - The Melbourne Social Forum: Your World, Your Future - The Melbourne Social Forum is an annual open space event, and a network for facilitating debate, self-expression and imagination in addressing global issues. In particular for seeking out, articulating and helping to establish more sustainable and just versions of globalisation. WHERE: CERES Environmental Park (
NSW
Thurs 20 & Fri 21 Oct - Piecing the puzzle: the aid and trade jigsaw: A 2 day seminar with leading Australian campaigners looking at aid and trade policy in the Pacific region - This Seminar, organised by AID/Watch & AFTInet, aims to explore the new and emerging issues within this debate and provide an opportunity for participants to share information on their current focus. This in turn will provide a forum for campaigners, academics and communities to jointly strategise and network. WHERE: Y Hotel,
* Please email in your upcoming events!
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3) GLOBAL TRADE NEWS
* BILATERAL AND REGIONAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS NEWS *
* Victa man warns on China trade deal (Oct 6) - A prominent figure in Melbourne's business community has lashed out at the Federal Government's push for a free trade agreement with China, claiming that it could destroy Victoria's struggling manufacturing sector. Ian Campbell, the managing director of GUD Holdings – the maker of Sunbeam home appliances and Victa lawnmowers – warned that an FTA with
* Keeping bugs out of
* Softening mad cow rules criticised (Sept 30) - Weakening Australia's mad cow disease regulations would be an act of economic insanity that would compromise biosecurity, a leading trade analyst says. Professor Linda Weiss, an expert in international economic relations at the
* Australia 'has right to reject produce' (Sept 29) - Australian farmers wanting to keep out Kiwi produce have found an unlikely ally in New Zealand's Green Party which believes that restricting imports is a sovereign right. But the Greens also believe
*
*Japanese FTA market access down played (Sept 22) - Australian farmers are being told they should not expect to get major concessions from a proposed free trade deal (FTA) with
* Australia seeks FTA with Korea (Sept 9) - Australia is urging South Korea to kick off negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) to facilitate a growing bilateral trade in raw materials, agricultural and manufactured goods, according to a senior Australian official. More: http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2687
* WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION NEWS *
* Nations must move first on tariffs: US (Oct 18) - Other nations must dismantle unfair farm trade barriers if they want to see large reductions in US domestic subsidies, says US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, stressing "this is a package" for freer trade. Getting ready for a second round of meetings aimed at invigorating world trade negotiations, Johanns said
* Credibility of WTO at stake in trade talks (Oct 17) - A failure to reach agreement at the forthcoming World Trade Organisation meeting in Hong Kong would destroy the WTO's credibility and undermine the international trading system, according to John Tsang, the
EU matches
*
* More News on the WTO here: http://www.globaltrading.com/s/trading/wto.html
* WORLD BANK / IMF NEWS *
* SEEN Reviews the 2005 World Bank Annual Meeting (Sept 28) - At the 2005 annual meeting, the World Bank attempted to stake a claim of leadership in the global climate debate. According to the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, while the Bank talks a lot about climate-friendly formulas, in practice, it supports export-oriented oil extraction. More: http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/bwi-wto/wbank/2005/0928seen.htm
* IMF should give up development and trade policy, says expert (Sept 21) - The IMF should give up its lending and policy activities relating to development and trade, and instead return to its original mandate of safeguarding international financial stability, according to a set of proposals by Dr. Yilmaz Akyuz, former Chief Economist of UNCTAD in a paper presented to a Group of 24 meeting in Washington on 15-16 September. More: http://ifis.choike.org/informes/166.html
* World Bank Calls for Market-Driven Equality (Sept 20) - The World Bank's 2006 World Development Report recognizes that economic growth and development benefit from a society where all citizens have equal opportunities. The report goes on to argue that market mechanisms can address the problem of inequity. NGO representatives point out that the report represents a "fundamental contradiction" of the Bank's policies, as the institution's market-oriented policies have in fact caused the inequalities. More: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30353
* IMF Policies Thwart Poverty Goals (Sept 19) - Two reports from ActionAid International warn that International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies threaten poor countries both politically and economically. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, governments need to increase their expenditures on social and health programs, but the IMF imposes strict constraints on their public spending. Once again, as in the past, "government decisions are subordinate to the IMF rules and directions." More: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30338
* 9 out of 10 World Bank Poverty Reduction Programmes Demand Privatisation (Sept 19) - The World Bank designed the Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSPs) to replace the much criticized Structural Adjustment Programmes, which the Bank imposed on countries during 1980s and 1990s. A report from World Development Movement (WDM) finds that the "PRSPs contain on average six of nine classic Washington Consensus policy prescriptions." The only difference between PRSPs and the Washington Consensus is that these policies are now defended hypocritically as "country-owned." More: http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/bwi-wto/wbank/2005/0919ipocri.htm
* Contradicting Commitments: How the Achievement of Education for All is Being Undermined by the International Monetary Fund (Sept 05) - Full Report: http://www.actionaidusa.org/pdf/ContradictingCommit8663C.pdf
* OTHER GLOBAL TRADE NEWS *
Why Did the Poorest Countries Fail to Catch Up? (Oct 05) - Despite the promises made by globalization, in the last twenty years the world’s poorest countries have fallen further behind the rich. This paper debunks current development theories that explain why poorer countries have not reaped the rewards of global economic integration. It finds that the higher likelihood of poor countries to be involved in wars and civil conflicts is the most important determinant for their lack of growth while, surprisingly, the effects of domestic reforms or international lending were minimal. Full Paper: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/CP62.Milanovic.FINAL.pdf
* No Dirty Gold Campaign Launches New Ad Campaign (11 Oct) - This week, the No Dirty Gold campaign took out the first in a series of ads to be published in national publications. The ads call on jewelry firms, and other businesses that use gold, to insist the gold they buy—and sell—is produced in ways that do not harm communities, workers, and the environment. More: http://www.csrwire.com/article.cgi/4536.html
* Nestle launch of Fairtrade coffee divides company's critics (Oct 7) - Nestle, the world's largest and most ethically questioned food and drink company, yesterday launched a Fairtrade-certified coffee brand in
* EU Urged to Halt Regional Agreements (Sep 27) - As European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson prepares to kick off a new phase of trade negotiations in the Caribbean this week, trade groups are asking the bloc to shelve regional agreements in order to avoid a "development disaster". More: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30435
* The price of going to market: Mexico’s Lessons for Asia (19 Sept) - Last year was the tenth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and nearly all evaluations of the agreement conceded that the period showed negligible or negative results for Mexico. As the developing country partner of the agreement,
* John Ralston Saul: The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World (14 Sept) - Some people are surprised by the idea that globalism could be collapsing; after all the discourse out there is pretty assertive when it comes to the inevitability and the permanence and the success of globalism. And so the arguments usually are you’re for it or against it, but not Is it working, or Is it collapsing, or indeed Could it even collapse? More: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/perspective/stories/s1460312.htm
* More Trade News Available Here: http://www.ictsd.org/weekly
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4) WHAT CAN YOU DO?
* Help stop the privatisation of
With your help the Ghana National Coalition against the Privatisation of Water (NCAP) has successfully forced several companies to withdraw their bids on the
* Email George Bush and help African Farmers
E-mail George Bush and demand he implement the recent legally binding WTO ruling, which will help West African farmers and their families work their way out of poverty: http://www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file=emailbush.php
* Tell Nestle to End Child Slavery on
In addition to being one of the largest chocolate companies in the world, Nestle
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5) WEBSITE OF THE MONTH
* Tax Justice Network - The Tax Justice Network (TJN) is a non-aligned coalition of researchers and activists with a shared concern about the negative impacts of tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens. Tax is the forgotten issue in the debate about how to tackle poverty and must be added to trade, debt and aid if the world is serious about meeting the Multilateral Development Goals. Massive tax avoidance and illicit capital flight by companies and wealthy individuals in poor countries is costing the developing world US$500 billion per year in lost revenue – a sum that dwarfs annual overseas aid.
http://www.taxjustice.net
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6) QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"The environmental impacts of increased trade in agricultural products are potentially devastating, and countries must urgently establish policies to protect their natural resources as well as those that enable them to reap the economic and social benefits,"
- United Nations Environment Program
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=452&ArticleID=4953&l=en
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-----------------------------------
Global Trade Watch
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Email: info@tradewatchoz.org
Website: www.tradewatchoz.org
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posted by Emmanuel.K.Bensah II @ 11:59 am
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