ON THE GOVERNMENT'S

GATS CONSULTATION PAPER?

Who to make the submission to:

We recommend that you make your submission directly to the Prime Minister, with a copy to your MP, insisting that this is a political matter. There is little point sending it to the minor officials in the trade negotiations division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). The real decisions will be made by the Cabinet and there is already evidence that the pressure at this level is having an effect.

If you do decide to send a submission to MFAT please send a copy to the PM and to your MP.

General points for a submission:

We suggest that submissions make the following general points:

- how this country's services are run should be decided within NZ not by rules of the WTO

- the government should not be signing economic treaties that override the Treaty of Waitangi

- the current consultation process is cosmetic/farcical and should be abandoned

- the government should not table any 'offer' to commit new services to the GATS in Geneva on 31 March

- the government should stop its work on the GATS negotiations altogether, at least until a proper assessment of the impact of existing GATS rules and commitments has been made and opened for full and proper debate

- the government should commission the Maori Law Commission to consult extensively with Maori throughout the country on the agreement and act on their advice

- the government should show leadership in promoting an alternative economic model for world trade that puts the rights and needs of people and poorer countries first.

Resources to assist you on the ARENA website:

We have developed the following resources which you can adapt:

- a one page submission to send to the PM (follows)

- a four page submission to the PM (will be on this website on 25th Feb)

- a critique of the 10 principles that the government says should reassure us about the GATS

- a series of other letters that you can send to MPs, chairs of select committees, Ministers, mayors, regional health board chairs, school boards of trustees. (will be on this website on 25th Feb)

Copy of the letter for the PM

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to express my opposition to New Zealand's participation in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the World Trade Organization.

The Agreement is based on an economic model that treats the world as a market place where every service is a commodity to be bought and sold, and where social justice, human rights, morality and mutual obligations have no place.

We have experienced that model since 1984 in the form of privatization, deregulation, unrestricted foreign investment, user charges, contracting out, flexible labour markets and commercial Treaty settlements. We know it has failed. Your government has admitted as much.

I have written this letter to you as Prime Minister, rather than as a submission to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, because the position taken by New Zealand in these negotiations is a political decision. The responsibility for that rests with the Cabinet, chaired by you. I do not want these concerns fobbed off as a submission in MFAT's farcical 'consultation' process.

Instead, I ask you and your Government to:

· Abandon the 31 March 2003 deadline and stop your work on the GATS negotiations;

· Commission an independent and participatory Impact Analysis from the Law Commission on the implications for current and future policy and regulation of our services of

(a) the existing GATS agreement and commitments;

(b) the extension of that agreement to cover any other services; and

· Commission the Maori Law Commission to consult extensively with Maori throughout the country about what the current and potential GATS rules and commitments could mean for them and for te Tiriti o Waitangi and act on the result of that report;

· Open the debate about who should control New Zealand's services, based on what principles and priorities, and how New Zealand governments can reclaim control of these decisions from the WTO;

· Show leadership by promoting an alternative economic model for world trade that put the rights and needs of people and poorer countries before those of transnational corporations.

Yours sincerely,