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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM TRADINGAs of early <strong>2008</strong>, 15 Caribbean countries had just concluded FTAnegotiations with the EU and these were due <strong>to</strong> go for signing.Another 20 countries in Africa and the Pacific had initialled partialFTAs with a view <strong>to</strong> concluding full agreements by the end of <strong>2008</strong>.Of the <strong>to</strong>tal 35 countries that had initialled FTAs with Europe, ninewere least developed countries. This sets a new precedent, as prior <strong>to</strong>these agreements no LDC had entered an FTA with an industrialisedcountry.Rich countries are using these bilateral and regional accords <strong>to</strong> winconcessions that they are unable <strong>to</strong> obtain at the WTO, where developingcountries can band <strong>to</strong>gether and hold out for more favourable rules.The USA and EU are pushing through rules on intellectual propertythat reduce poor people’s access <strong>to</strong> life-saving medicines, increase theprices of seeds and other farming inputs beyond the reach of smallfarmers, and make it harder for developing-country companies <strong>to</strong>access new technology, an issue explained in detail below.Free trade agreements have also been used <strong>to</strong> challenge localgovernment decisions, as in the infamous case of Metalclad in Mexico.When Mexican state and local officials used their authority over landuse regulation <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p the US multinational from operating ahazardous waste disposal facility on <strong>to</strong>p of an aquifer that provideddrinking water <strong>to</strong> a <strong>to</strong>wn in the state of San Luis Po<strong>to</strong>si, Metalcladbrought a suit against Mexico under NAFTA’s Chapter 11 on investment,claiming that its property rights had been violated.A NAFTA tribunal,meeting in secret as is the cus<strong>to</strong>m in international arbitration, agreedthat Metalclad’s rights had indeed been violated and ordered theMexican national government <strong>to</strong> pay $16m in damages. 62New trading powers such as India and China are also pursuingregional agreements and may duplicate many of the rigged rules anddouble standards that abound in North–South deals, since the outcomesof trade negotiations reflect the balance of power between the negotiatingparties more than their geographic location. Accords between countriesof similar weight can be fairer, as (at least in theory) can the WTO,where developing countries at least enjoy safety in numbers, althoughtheir interests often diverge. Negotiations between countries of vastlydisparate power – the USA and Peru, for example – risk becomingneo-colonial impositions.323

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