CPATH Statement:
Exclude Water, Health Care, and Vital Human Services from Trade
Negotiations
TO: Ambassador Robert Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative
CC: U.S. Members of Congress, World Health Organization
The General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS), currently being negotiated among the 145 member nations of the
World Trade Organization (WTO), seeks to override national rules and
regulations that could pose “barriers to trade” in services. The Office of the
U.S. Trade Representative is scheduled to announce which services will be
covered by particular GATS rules on March 13.
We are concerned that GATS threatens to
place corporate interests above health, both in the U.S. and abroad. Vital
human services, including health care and water, are already covered by basic
GATS trade rules. The obligation of Congress and other democratically elected representatives
to protect, provide, and regulate these vital human services is seen as a
barrier to trade. Weakening our right to protect vital human services puts our
nation’s health at risk. GATS could limit the ability of Congress, any U.S. state,
or any region to enact and enforce regulations concerning: health care services
including nursing homes, hospitals, or health maintenance organizations;
clinician licensing; public subsidies for the safety net and other services;
health insurance; environmental protections; occupational safety and health;
distribution of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms; and public administration of
safe water and sanitation. In addition, “free trade” agreements have increased
economic inequality and negatively affected national economies, displacing
workers and straining the social safety net, all of which impair health status.
By March 31, the USTR and other trade
representatives have been asked to commit particular services to coverage by a more
far-reaching set of rules under GATS. These broader rules (national treatment
and market access) would challenge domestic regulations that limit the number
and distribution of services if they are provided by private transnational companies,
and limits on foreign direct investment, among other provisions.
The terms of the negotiations are not
publicly known. However we are aware
that in the current stage of negotiations, the European Union has requested
that the United States further open up a number of public services to trade by
private transnational corporations, including drinking water and sanitation
systems and the U.S. Postal system. The
EU has also asked the U.S. to remove restrictions on the distribution of
alcohol and tobacco, which could gravely threaten important public health
gains. However, the EU has also recently decided to exclude its own health,
education, energy and water sectors from trade negotiations. The U.S. should
protect our vital services.
It concerns us that trade tribunals,
administered by the WTO, which deliberate secretly without public
accountability, have the power to decide whether regulatory protection of our
vital human services conflicts with GATS rules, and to impose financial
penalties on the U.S. and other countries that exercise those protections. In
addition, United States policy and action play a pivotal role in shaping the
ground rules for global trade. The U.S. has an important opportunity to promote
a safe and just global community with publicly accountable and sustainable
health care, water, and other vital human services. To this end, we urge the
United States to:
1.Call for an assessment of the impact of
GATS on population health, as provided for in GATS Article XIX, and assure
based on such assessment that policy proposals do not have an adverse impact on
health;
2.Exclude vital human services such as
health and water, from trade negotiations and challenge under the GATS, both for
the U.S. and for all WTO countries;
3.Promote transparency and democratic
accountability at all levels of trade negotiations;
4.Support enforceable commitments to
advancing population health, and to achieving universal access to health care
and to safe, affordable water in the U.S. and internationally.
Everyone’s health is at stake.
Signed:
Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health
98 Seal Rock Drive,
San Francisco,
CA 94121-1437
email:ershaffer@cpath.org