International London (UK) / Cancun (Mexico), August 28, 2003
With two weeks to go before the World
Trade Organization's (WTO) Ministerial meeting in Cancun, a new report reveals
the key role transnational corporations play in shaping the policy of the
WTO.
'Business Rules: Who pays the price?'
will be released on August 28, 2003 and was produced by Friends of the Earth
International, the world's largest grassroots environmental federation, and Corporate
Europe Observatory (CEO).
Friends of the Earth International is
highlighting the WTO meeting which it believes could have devastating impacts
on people and the environment around the world.
Through a series of eight case studies,
this report strips back the rhetoric of free trade and the
"pro-development agenda" and reveals the reality of the WTO
system.
Companies named and shamed include
Pfizer, Suez, Halliburton, Monsanto, Endesa, Shell, Philip Morris, and Exxon
Mobil. The corporate lobby groups include the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the
Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the European Services Forum (ESF),
the US Coalition of Service Industries (USCSI), the National Foreign Trade
Council (NFTC), and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).
"Transnational corporations through
their powerful lobby groups are playing a central role in setting the 'free
trade' agenda," said Raul Benet in Cancun. "They are using their
financial and political muscle to steer decisions in the most powerful
countries in the WTO: the US, the European Union, and Japan," he
added.
The aim of transnational corporations is
to make greater profits by opening up new markets and creating a set of
pro-business rules in the WTO. For ordinary people and the environment this is
bad news.
The case studies highlight the
environmental and social impacts that the corporations and lobby groups have on
few key areas: food, health and environmental standards, access to essential
medicines, control over foreign investment and access to essential
services.
For more information about the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Ministerial meeting in Cancun please visit www.foei.org/cancun