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For Immediate Release : Monday 29th November 1999 Page 1 of 2

EXPOSED!

Clandestine Corporates at the Heart of the WTO

" We know that in the era of globalisation and technological development, it is not easy to regulate the future. A much easier solution is if industries together find their own solutions, in the form of self-regulation … or if they find solutions in the form of standards."

European Commissioner Liikanen at the TABD Berlin Conference .

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Secretive lobbying by multi-nationals will be at the heart of this week’s WTO summit, Friends of the Earth reveals today.

Major companies from the USA and Europe have been meeting through the "Transatlantic Business Dialogue" (TABD) to decide on their priorities for the future of world trade. The annual conference of the TABD was held on 29 ^th and 30 ^th October, in the Intercontinental Hotel in Berlin. Guests at the conference included WTO Director-General Mike Moore, US Secretary of Commerce William Daley, Under Secretary of State David Aaron, EU Commissioners Pascal Lamy (external trade) and Liikanen (enterprise). Businesses involved in the TABD include Boeing, Enron, Ford, IBM, Procter and Gamble, Siemens, ICI, Shell and Bayer. Journalists were barred from Conference proceedings, even those involving EU commissioners and US officials.

The TABD was started in 1995, on the initiative of the US administration and then EU Commissioners Brittan and Bangemann. Its mission is to identify transatlantic "barriers to business" and seek their removal. One means for this is an "early warning mechanism", announced at the EU/US summit in June. This is designed to identify contentious trade issues between the EU and United States and prevent visible conflicts. Its effect is to allow multi-nationals to identify problems and propose business-friendly solutions before any public debate can take place.

Key issues identified by industry at the TABD conference were:

• A requirement for a "trade impact assessment", to take place before any new EU and US legislation, particularly regulations to protect the environment and social standards
• The EU’s use of the "precautionary principle". The TABD opposes the EU’s plan to discuss the issue within the WTO. The TABD warned that this principle, which has ensured an EU ban on hormone treated beef, will "cause trade conflicts; add to the cost of doing business; stifle innovation; and drive away investment from those countries that use it arbitrarily"
• The proposed EU "Take Back" Directive, which would require companies to take responsibility for disposing of white goods and electrical equipment at the end of its life. The TABD said that this would result in "cumbersome and costly collection and recovery obligations for used products"
• The EU plan to phase out ozone destroying hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in refrigerators. The TABD concluded that the EU has been "unresponsive to industry input and facts"
• The UN’s draft biosafety protocol, which would give Southern countries and others more power to restrict trade in genetically-modified food than WTO rules would permit.
• A possible EU ban on animal testing in cosmetic products. The TABD believe this would "seriously impact trade between the US and the EU".
• The proposed WTO agreement on Government procurement. The TABD claimed to have "successfully urged the action of our respective Governments" on the issue.

[The 140 conclusions of the Berlin Conference can be found on the TABD website: www.tabd.com]

Biotech giant Monsanto was not on the official list of participants at the TABD conference, but Monsanto Director of Government Affairs Ken Baker was present throughout, and took part in the meetings of the agri-biotech working group.

Commenting, Tony Juniper of FOEI said:

"The TABD is little more than a secretive attempt by the world’s biggest businesses to carve up the future of the world’s trading system. Their agenda will dominate much of the discussion at the WTO talks. They stand for unregulated free trade, with their companies released from environmental and social obligations.

A World Trade Organisation dominated by the smooth corporate suits of the TABD is literally not worth having. Before the world’s governments decide to extend the WTO’s remit even further, perhaps they should stop and consider the damage that the p lanet will suffer if their friends in the multi-nationals get their way."

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A full briefing on the TABD by the Corporate Europe Observatory is available from FOEI in Seattle, and on www.xs4all.nl/~ceo

Friends of the Earth International, the world’s largest environment network, with groups in 65 countries across the globe, will be at the WTO talks until Saturday 4th December.

Contact: Ian Willmore 206 953 3073