A-Infos (en) MAI update: GOOD NEWS

[elisa@tao.ca]

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>**************************************************************
>MAI UPDATE
>- CHIEF NEGOTIATOR WILL RECOMMEND NOT TO SIGN THE MAI
>IN APRIL
>**************************************************************
>
>Chairman of the Negotiating Group on MAI, Frans Engering, will
>recommend OECD governments not to sign the MAI Treaty at the OECD
>Ministerial Conference in Paris 27-28 April 1998. According to Engering
>this means at least a year further delay for negotiations until the
>next OECD Ministerial in the spring of 1999.
>
>Engering made these statements this morning at a conference in
>Trecht, the Netherlands, on Development in Africa, organized by the
>Evert Vermeer Foundation. This is the first time that the Chairman of
>the Negotiation Group has admitted that signing in April is not
>feasible. Engering acknowledged the failure of the April deadline
>during a heated debate about the development impacts of the MAI. He
>still continues to  support a multilateral investment treaty within
>the framework of the World Trade Organisation. This indicates that
>whether or not the MAI will be shelved, the pressure for a MAI-like
>investment treaty will remain.
>
>However, the fight is far from over. Despite some good news and cause
>for celebration, there is still a strong drive by corporate lobbies
>and their sympathisers in government to finalize the negotiations.
>Public pressure must be maintained and information spreading,
>awareness-raising, and continued strategic actions are needed if we
>are to ensure the complete and utter death of the MAI and its ther
>possible incarnations in the WTO. The co-operation between groups
>working on the MAI has been incredible, and shows us all how
>effective we can be when we work together
>
>INFORMATION ON THE MAI
>License to Loot: the MAI and How to Stop It!  Published by Friends of
>the Earth. To order, email Mark Vallianatos at mvalli@aol.com or send
>a fax to 202-783-044
>
>MAIgalomania. Citizens and the Environment Sacrificed to Corporate
>Investment Agenda. A 22-page briefing of the role and influence of
>the industry lobby in the creation of the most brazen of all global
>economic liberalisation pacts. Published by: CEO. C/- Prinseneiland
>329, 1013 LP Amsterdam, NL. Tel/fax: + 31 30 236 44 22. Email:
>ceo@xs4all.



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