What
is the FTAA?
The
Free Trade Areas of the Americas -- trade rules which would
cover all of the Americas except Cuba -- has been greeted
by vigorous opposition from activists in all of the potentially
affected countries. They are concerned with the FTAA’s:
- Expansion
of corporate rights (giving corporations the right to
sue governments directly)
- Increased
power to overturn national, state, and local laws (any
law seen as a “barrier to trade” would be a
potential target)
- Privatization
of essential services (public services such as water,
health care and education are seen as huge potential “markets”
for corporations)
- Irreversibility
(the FTAA could potentially lock all 34 countries into
a corporate dominated legal system that would make its
provisions very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse)
The
official FTAA site describes it differently Go...
What's
New?
SPECIAL SECTION on the FTAA Ministerials
in Miami Go...
Winners and Losers in El Salvador: A Window
on Our Future ~ A
Report of the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) Reality
Tour of El Salvador
Well-written
report based on a October 2003 El Salvador delegation
tour by PICA that explores the social and economic effects
of free trade on El Salvador and its people. Destructive
trends witnessed in El Salvador are compared with economic
developments in the U.S. (PDF; 315KB) Go...
Women's Edge Coalition's New Study Demonstrates
that NAFTA has Hurt Poor Women in Mexico, FTAA will make
it Worse (4/18/04)
Go...
World Bank study suggests poverty and inequality will continue
to plague the Americas unless FTAA rules are radically changed.
See analysis from the Miami Herald. Go...
|
FTAA/CAFTA
UPDATE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF)
For more information, contact Kris Torgeson: +1
212-655-3764 or +1 917-913-0183
Provisions in CAFTA Restrict Access
to Medicines Latin American and Caribbean Countries
Urged Not to Include Such Provisions in FTAA
New York, February 3, 2004 - As 34 Latin
American and Caribbean countries gather in Puebla,
Mexico, to resume negotiations of the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA), the international humanitarian
medical organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) continues to call on
countries to make public health a priority and insist
that intellectual property provisions be excluded
from the FTAA agreement. The new round of FTAA negotiations
comes days after the final text of the US-Central
American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was made public,
confirming fears that higher levels of intellectual
property protection will restrict access to medicines
in the region.
Under CAFTA, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua will be obliged
to extend pharmaceutical patent terms beyond the 20
years required in World Trade Organization (WTO) rules;
prevent the marketing approval of generic medicines
if a patented version of the product is registered;
and grant additional exclusive marketing rights by
prohibiting drug regulatory agencies to use original
pharmaceutical test data for the registration of generic
medicines, a restriction referred to as "data
exclusivity." These same provisions, all of which
exceed WTO standards, are in the draft FTAA agreement,
and will severely restrict or block generic competition,
the only proven mechanism for reducing the prices
of medicines.
Provisions related to marketing authorization
are particularly worrisome. For instance, if an existing
AIDS drug is not registered in one of the five CAFTA
countries because the manufacturer has no interest
in the market, under CAFTA, registration of generics
would be prevented for five years, even if the drug
is not patented, and until the end of the patent term
if it is. Unlike with patents, which authorities can
redress through compulsory licensing, there is no
recourse to provisions restricting marketing authorization.
"People with HIV/AIDS in Central
America do not have five years or more to wait for
affordable AIDS drugs to become available," said
Antonio Girona, Head of Mission for MSF's AIDS treatment
program in Honduras. "Thousands are dying now,
and many will die within one or two years of first
developing symptoms of AIDS."
The outcome of CAFTA negotiations shows
that, when negotiating with the US bilaterally or
in small groups, countries are likely to agree to
stringent intellectual property provisions that exceed
international standards. MSF urges other countries
in the Americas not to agree to such overly restrictive
measures in the FTAA or in other bilateral or plurilateral
agreements.
"CAFTA negotiators have given in
to US pressure and failed their people by agreeing
to measures that place profits above people's lives,"
said Rachel Cohen, US Director of MSF's Campaign for
Access to Essential Medicines. "FTAA negotiators
must not follow suit. The only way for countries in
the FTAA region to uphold their obligation to protect
public health is to refuse to negotiate intellectual
property provisions altogether."
|
|
Special
Section:
FTAA Ministerials in Miami
[The
following articles do not necessarily represent the
viewpoints of the PC(USA). They were chosen to give
a variety of perspectives on the recent events in
Miami.]
"Free
Trade" Takes a Dive in Miami
by Soren Ambrose (12/2/03) Go...
Amnesty
International Calls for Probe of Miami Policing
from Reuters Go..
Information
Warfare in Miami
by Ilyse Hogue & Patrick Reinsborough Go...
FTAA
Ship Runs Aground, But the Party Goes On
by Tom Hayden, Alternet (11/30/03) Go...
Trade
Talks End in Vague Accord from the Washington
Post (11/20/03) Go...
Third
Draft of FTAA Agreement and Ministerial Declaration
from FTAA site
Go...
Victory
in Miami? Focusing Global Justice Efforts Beyond FTAA
Article by Mark Engler with analysis on the rise of
economic nationalism and how to respond now that Miami
is behind us (from Foreign Policy in Focus)
Go...
FTAA
analysis in last week's Foreign
Policy in Focus Go
there...
Photos
from Food First Go...
|
Learn
More
A)
In May 2003, the PC(USA) passed an Action opposing the FTAA
in its current form. Please read the General
Assembly Action and Rationale on the Free Trade Areas of the Americas Go...
B)
Read Catherine Gordon's article from the PC(USA) Washington
Office on the FTAA
Go...
C)
"G.A. On Its Toes in Opposing the FTAA" article
by Jo Williams from Presbyterians for Restoring Creation's
Nov. 15, 2003 'PRC Update' Go...
D)
Naomi Klein, a Canadian political analysis, writes about the
connections between the recently ousted Bolivian president,
free trade policies and Florida-based farm workers. Go...
E)
World Bank study suggests poverty and inequality will continue
to plague the Americas unless FTAA rules are radically changed.
See analysis from the Miami Herald. Go...
Oppose
the FTAA
Although based on the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) would,
according to reports from its nine Negotiating Groups, far
surpass NAFTA in its scope and power. It would encompass a
population of 800 million and a combined GDP of $11 trillion
(U.S.). It would incorporate the powers of the proposed services
agreement at the World Trade Organization (WTO) - the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) - as well as those of
the failed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). In
short, it would combine the most ambitious elements of every
global trade and investment agreement - existing and proposed
- into one hemispheric pact, with sweeping authority over
every aspect of life in the U.S., Canada and the rest of the
Americas.
Learn
more from Public Citizens.
Educational
Resources
1)
G.A.
Action 03-33 (passed May 2003). On Opposing the Free Trade Areas of the Americas in Its Current Form From
the Presbytery of San Francisco.
Concurrence to Overture 03-33 from the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy.
The Presbytery
of San Francisco overtures the 215th General Assembly (2003)
of the PC (USA) to take the following actions:
1. Support efforts to strive toward international cooperation
based on fair trade, respect for diversity, and common concerns
for a peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
2. Oppose multinational actions and trade agreements that
elevate rights of corporations over the right of governments
and indigenous peoples to pass and enforce laws that preserve
the public good and protect their citizens, economies, and
environments.
3. Oppose the Free Trade. Area of the Americas (FTAA) in its
current form.
4. Direct the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, as
well as representatives of PC (USA) programs dealing with
economic justice, hunger, and advocacy, to promptly communicate
the General Assembly position to the U.S. trade representative,
U.S. senators and representatives, congressional committees
with trade jurisdiction, and state legislators.
a. Call on the U. S. trade representative to withdraw from
any further negotiations on the proposed FTAA until there
has been full public disclosure of its proposed text, open
public debate, and a place at the negotiating table for representatives
of the diverse sectors of civil society who would be affected
by this agreement.
b. Petition the federal government to refuse to sign any new
trade and investment agreements, such as the proposed FTAA,
that include investor-state provisions, where corporations
can directly sue governments for lost profits ("regulatory
takings").
c. Demand that all trade agreements incorporate workers rights,
human rights, food safety, and environmental standards, and
that they allow governments and sovereign indigenous peoples
to regulate corporations to protect the common good.
d. Oppose any extension of "Fast Track" Presidential
Trade Negotiating Authority, which limits the role of Congress
in negotiating or amending the terms of the FT AA and other
proposed trade agreements.
5. Call on presbyteries, churches, and church members to
do the following:
a. Become educated about the FTAA, NAFTA, MERCOSUR
(Southern Cone Common Market), and
other trade agreements, and the role of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Trade Organization
(WTO), and other multinational organizations in creating and
enforcing globalization policies that are unsustainable and
unjust, in part, by drawing on the resources of the Presbyterian
Hunger Program, Joining Hands Against Hunger.
b. Advocate with state legislators and U.S. senators and representatives,
urging them to oppose extending Fast Track and oppose the
FTAA.
c. Join in coalitions with community groups, including other
Christian denominations, who are organizing opposition to
the FTAA and trade agreements with similar provisions, and
to make meeting space available to such groups.
READ
THE ACTION RATIONALE Go...
CLICK
HERE for a printable PDF version. 
2)
Enough for Everyone's Coffee
Project and Sweat-Free
T
3)
PHP's Food and Faith: Global
Food Systems
4)
Globalization and Trade Study Papers
from PC(USA)'s Advisory Committee on Social
Witness Policy (ACSWP)
The
ACSWP has developed a series of four study papers on globalization
and trade issues impacting the church and the world as the
new millennium dawns. They serve as a basis for the development
of a Resolution anticipated for the 216th General Assembly
(2004). They are the following:
5)
Global Discipleship CD
This free CD-ROM (PC and Mac compatible) from the Presbyterian
Hunger Program is intended for use in your congregation's
high school and adult study classes to learn more about our
roles as Christians in a global economy.
Go to the PC(USA) Marketplace
and in the search field enter the words - global discipleship.
The
following resources were carefully chosen, but they may include
positions that are not backed by our current GA policy:
6)
FTAA for Beginner's Workshop from United for a Fair Economy
This is an excellent training guide for a one to two-hour
workshop suitable for high school, college-level or adult
study groups. Some presbyteries have begun to use this guide.
To obtain information on their experience with the guide,
email the Presbyterian
Hunger Program.
For workshop information and to download the guide and handouts
- Go...
7)
Stop the FTAA: Democracy Before Trade
- from the Council of Canadians
Go...
8)
Making the Links: A People's Guide to the WTO and FTAA
by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke
This colorful, 43-page manual is a thorough, readable guide
to the issues and strategies for opposing unjust trade. (PDF
610 KB)
Go...
9)
Winners and Losers in El Salvador: A Window on Our Future
~ A Report of
the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) Reality Tour of
El Salvador
Well-written
report based on a October 2003 El Salvador delegation tour
by PICA (a Presbyterian Hunger Program grantee for its work
promoting SweatFree) that explores the social and economic
effects of free trade on El Salvador and its people. Destructive
trends witnessed in El Salvador are compared with economic
developments in the U.S. (PDF; 315KB) Go...
Background
Documents
Oxfam
Briefings on FTAA and on Fair Trade:
FTAA:
from Cancun to Miami (PDF) Go...
Fair Trade for the Americas (PDF) Go...
STATE
OF THE DEBATE on the Free Trade Areas of the Americas
October
14, 2002 - Sarah Anderson and John Cavanagh, Institute for
Policy Studies
This report, based on interviews and on an extensive survey
of FTAA materials produced by government, media, and civil
society organizations throughout the region, was commissioned
by the Rockefeller Foundation to broaden their understanding
of the FTAA process, the key actors involved, and the potential
impact of an FTAA on poverty and other development issues
in the hemisphere. Go...
MAKING
GLOBAL TRADE WORK for People
UN Development Programme
This report presents a far reaching reassessment of the current
multilateral trade regime and examines how it can be improved
in order to contribute genuinely to human development Go...
What
do we want?
