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| Contributor: | CCIC |
| Date: |
2003-05-01 21:15:58 |
| Answer: |
Canada should work towards the globalization of human rights, labour standards, democracy, sustainable human development and responsible management of the world’s ecosystems. As mentioned in our response to questions 3 and question 10, this includes ratifying and supporting relevant international conventions, such as those in the area of human rights. At the same time, Canadian foreign policy should focus on the measures required to address the negative impacts of globalization: economic exploitation of people, unchecked resource exploitation and the destruction of ecosystems.
Globalization has been primarily about global economic trade liberalization. Global trade should be a means for countries to achieve broader public and social ends, not an end in itself. Canada should work within the international trade system to ensure that trade agreements address poverty and that trade is fair.
Since 1999, CCIC and its members have been holding deliberative dialogues with Canadians from various walks of life on issues such as globalization and trade. More than 1,000 Canadians across the country have participated in three-hour forums to consider what values should underlie our approach to globalization and to trade (the dialogues were specifically on trade in food). These citizens consistently found common ground on the importance of fairness in trade and respect for environmental sustainability.
Trade and investment agreements must address the special needs of small economies of the South and work to provide more space in negotiations for the concerns of poor countries. This is particularly important as trade barriers fall and Southern economies lose protection for their own countries in order to gain access to Northern markets. Increasingly the economies of Southern countries are tied into the global economy. Change is occurring rapidly, but the cost of that change is being borne disproportionately by the poor. The economic benefits of globalization are being captured primarily by financial institutions and their investors. Indeed, the underlying point of question 8 is that benefits of globalization have been unequal.
Canada should work at the WTO and other trade bodies to ensure that fair trade principles are incorporated into these organization’s governance structures. A fundamental premise of fair trade is that the human rights of farmers, workers and others involved in the chain of production and trade are respected. At minimum, countries that are party to trade agreements should meet or exceed labour, health and environmental standards set out in international treaties and by the United Nations and other multilateral bodies. Internationally, compliance with such standards should take precedence over the imposition of trade rules.
In May 2003, CCIC will release Crossroads at Cancun: What Direction for Development?, CCIC’s brief for the 5th WTO Ministerial meeting. This brief provides a series of recommendations on how global trade can be redirected in order to achieve progress on development issues. Crossroads at Cancun sets out five key action areas for Canada in current round of WTO negotiations. In the brief, CCIC proposes that the Government of Canada should advocate for
§ Supporting developing countries in their calls for no new issues for negotiation (and focus on implementation concerns);
§ Making development central to agricultural trade rules;
§ Addressing the development imperative for medicine and food security in TRIPS;
§ Preserving the scope for regulation, flexibility and public services in GATS;
§ Democratizing the WTO.
Canada must support developing countries’ ability to use simplified trade defences against unfairly subsidized food imports. These defence mechanisms must be accessible for use by low-income developing countries and could include mechanisms such as simplified countervail measures, or other flexibilities to use tariffs. This would help ensure openness to a diversity of national economic development strategies within global rules, particularly regarding the depth, scope and pace of trade liberalization and regulation of foreign investment.
While agricultural reforms have been imposed under the banner of bringing free market principles to Africa and other developing countries, the wealthy, notably the United States and European Union, have continued to highly subsidize their own farmers and agricultural exports. Canadian farmers are also penalized under the effects of subsidization.
With respect to the mitigation of Northern trade policy impacts on developing economies, Canada should work at the upcoming WTO to ensure that that the Doha Development Agenda more closely resembles fact than fiction. At the upcoming FTAA Ministerial in November 2003, Canada should also work to ensure that development objectives to meet the needs of the poor are realized.
To ensure that the benefits of globalization are more widely shared within and among countries the Government of Canada should:
§ Work in international fora to bring about the cancellation of all IMF, World Bank and other IFI debt incurred by highly indebted poor countries;
§ Promote international agreements that regulate transnational corporations and their impact on employment and social standards, community well-being and the environment;
§ Work internationally to implement measures to control currency speculations, such as the Tobin Tax. Canada should push for the Tobin Tax to be placed on the agenda of the G8, UN, World Bank and IMF;
§ Promote reform of IFIs to ensure they focus on poverty eradication and sustainable development;
§ Work to implement the Millennium Development Goals;
§ Adopt legislation requiring companies to disclose information about economic, social, environmental and health impacts of their operations worldwide.
Recommendations in response to Question 8
1. Work towards the globalization of human rights, labour standards, democracy, sustainable human development and responsible management of the world’s ecosystems.
2. Focus on the measures required to address the negative impacts of globalization: unchecked resource exploitation, the economic exploitation of people and the destruction of ecosystems.
3. Work at the WTO, in FTAA negotiations and other trade negotiations to ensure that fair trade principles are upheld.
4. Advocate in the current round of WTO negotiations for:
§ Supporting developing countries in their calls for no new issues for negotiation (and focus on implementation concerns);
§ Making development central to agricultural trade rules;
§ Addressing the development imperative for medicine and food security in TRIPS;
§ Preserving the scope for regulation, flexibility and public services in GATS;
§ Democratizing the WTO.
5. Support developing countries’ ability to use simplified trade defences against unfairly subsidized food imports.
6. Ensure that the benefits of globalization are more widely shared within and among countries by:
§ Working in international fora to bring about the cancellation of all IMF, World Bank and other IFI debt incurred by highly indebted poor countries;
§ Promoting international agreements on investment that regulate transnational corporations and their impact on employment and social standards, community well-being and the environment;
§ Working internationally to implement measures to control currency speculations, such as the Tobin Tax. Push for the Tobin Tax to be placed on the agenda of the G8, UN, World Bank and IMF;
§ Promoting reform of IFIs to ensure they focus on poverty eradication and sustainable development;
§ Working to halt the transboundary trade and smuggling of toxics and non-medical radiological materials;
§ Working to implement the Millennium Development Goals;
§ Adopting legislation requiring companies to disclose information about economic, social, environmental and health impacts of their operations worldwide.
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