Trade and Sovereignty

Participant: OJ

Date: 2003-02-02 02:10:02

I agree that negotiations such as the MAI should have been more transparent. I think that pressure from the public, however, is pushing institutions like the OECD, WTO, etc. to conduct reforms that promote this. That being said, I don't think that NGOs (as many of them argue) should be included at the negotiation table. The negotiating parties at these organizations are representatives of democratically-elected governments. I do not think that groups like Greenpeace or Amnesty should be given the same governing authority in such bodies as my duly-elected government. So yes, I support transparency but in order for accountability to be maximized, the negotiating groups MUST be representatives who are at least indirectly elected (i.e. appointed by elected officials). And on the issue of environment and human rights, many of the agreements in which we are engaged (including NAFTA and GATT/WTO) include clauses that allow contracting parties to enact policies that otherwise violate the agreements for reasons of health, environment, or security concerns. I believe Article XXI of the GATT covers this...don't remember where it is in NAFTA.