GATS (WTO) - Threat or Menace?

I emailed this article to my County Council members (Whatcom County, District #3).

Trade Talks Put State Powers on Chopping Block

Every state and local official should be paying more attention to the global trade talks at the World Trade Organization, since local power to regulate services such as health care, mass transit and a range of other public services are on the chopping block.

New proposals in a part of global trade law known as the General Agreement on Trade in Services could give global corporations the right under international law to challenge a host of state and local regulations...

...And you won't be surprised to find out that Wal-Mart is trying to manipulate the global trade talks to undermine local regulation of its big box stores. Under a GATS proposal supported by the company, local and state officials would not be able to limit the size and height of buildings, locations or operating hours for retail stores.

Essentially, global trade talks have become a new venue for corporate lobbying, where state and local governments could wake up the next day to discover that home rule and state government powers have been sacrificed in the name of "free trade." Make no mistake, global trade talks are no longer about tariffs or traditional obstacles to trade; they are a new parliament of unelected federal officials beholden to global multinationals and an extreme privatization ideology.

Like most of us, my Council Members weren't aware of these (nasty) new proposals. Now that they know, they are concerned and 'on the case'. The County Executive is also being brought into the loop.

Every Governor and State Legislature, every City and County Council should be up in arms about these 'trade' negotiations.

- - You should ask your local government if they know about this?

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Oregon wants to opt out of the GATS expansion!

Oregon seeks global trade pact exclusion

Economy - Citing a lack of input, the governor asks the U.S. to leave the state out of any expanded deal

Monday, April 03, 2006

EDWARD WALSH

Gov. Ted Kulongoski is asking the Bush administration to exclude Oregon from a proposed expansion of an international trade agreement on the service sector of the economy. He also asks to remove the state from parts of the agreement that cover health care, land use and zoning, and gambling.

In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman, Kulongoski said the World Trade Organization's General Agreement on Trade in Services "contains several provisions that conflict with our ability to effectively and appropriately regulate in the public interest."

The governor asked Portman to amend a U.S. proposal to expand the agreement to exclude Oregon...