Reference:

Boston Cambridge Alliance for Democracy 5/21/97 7:01 AM
Will International Business Over-ride Laws Passed by our Elected Governments?

Will International Business Over-ride Laws Passed by our Elected Governments?

At a time when more responsibility is being shifted to state and local government to deal with social needs, new laws are being drafted at the international level which will restrict the power of state and local government to affect economic development, environmental or labor standards, and the retention of domestic industries.

The Multilateral Agreement on Investment, being prepared by O.E.C.D. (The European-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) with the United States, is designed to make it easier for corporations and big investors to expand their operations into new locales by overriding many federal, state, and local requirements. MAI as it stands would jeopardize the Community Reinvestment Act, which prevents redlining by banks, as well as programs in cities like Baltimore which require a living wage be paid by any company with a city contract, minority hiring requirements, plant closing requirements, development funds for local business or these owned by women or minorities, requirements for job creation or retention when tax breaks or other subsidies are given, and human rights laws such as the Massachusetts Burma law which restricts the state from doing business with companies based in countries with gross violations of human rights. MAI could be, in short, a devastating assault on the right of local self determination. Although MAI was scheduled for ratification by the US Senate this fall, it has not yet been released to the public. It has been drafted virtually in secret over the last two years and has had almost no coverage in the press.

Multilateral agreements like NAFTA and GATT, which removed trade barriers and allowed the free importation of goods from low-wage countries with few environmental standards, have resulted in the loss of many good jobs in US and -- in the interest of remaining "competitive" -- a race to the bottom of l ow wages and low environmental standards. MAI is the latest in that tradition and perhaps the most critical, because it goes beyond NAFTA and GATT in establishing -- for the first time -- the right of powerful, multinational corporations to sue and collect compensation from local communities that exercise various kinds of control on investment behavior. Local and national governments would have no right to sue corporations on behalf of their people. MAI proponents say the agreement will put the US in a stronger position to attract investment, build new facilities, and compete in the global marketplace. Opponents see it as an assault on community rule and the democratic process, an agreement that will reduce wages and lower environmental standards while giving much more power to large multinationals.

It is clear that any agreement with such a massive impact on local authority deserves adequate time for presentation and debate. Our goal is to start a national debate.

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