US Foreign Policy In Focus

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For people interested in corporate responsibility, corporate power,
sanctions and all that, you may be interested in the following: if not,
just delete now. Ds, EuroBurmanet
> *****************************************************************
> Foreign Policy In Focus is a joint project of the
> Interhemipsheric Resource Center (IRC) and the Institute for
> Policy Studies (IPS). In Focus briefs document the problems
> of current U.S. foreign policy and offer recommendations for
> alternative policy directions that would make the United
> States a more responsible global partner.
> 
> To order Foreign Policy In Focus, call (505) 842-8288 or visit
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> 
> Foreign Policy In Focus: Controlling Transnational Corporations
> 
> (Excerpt)
> 
> Vol. 1, No. 6 November 1996
> 
> Editors: Martha Honey (IPS) and Tom Barry (IRC)
> Writers: Erik Leaver (IRC) and John Cavanagh (IPS)
> 
> 
> Key Points to Understanding Government Regulation of TNCs
> 
>      * Easy flow of capital across borders renders governments
> weakens in efforts to exert influence over national development.
> 
>      * U.S. leaders have used an array of foreign policy
> instruments to promote the spread of U.S.-based global
> corporations.
> 
>      * Socially oriented corporate codes have come under
> government consideration.
> 
> 
> Key Problems With Current U.S. Policy
> 
>      *  Although the NAFTA side agreements represent a step
> forward, they are not a good model for regulating TNC conduct.
> 
>      * TNCs remain largely free to seek the most profitable and
> least regulated locations for their production.
> 
>      * At a multilateral level, the U.S. has offered little
> support for measures designed to regulate corporate operations
> and protect worker rights.
> 
> 
> Toward a New Foreign Policy
> 
> There is an urgent need to subject the operations of
> transnational corporations to more effective citizen,
> governmental, and multilateral regulation. The U.S. government
> should strongly support efforts by the ILO and other UN bodies to
> strengthen enforcement of international labor rights. In
> particular, Washington should renew its own efforts and
> financially support UN work establishing an enforceable code of
> conduct for international business.
> 
> Similarly, the U.S. government should stand behind proposals to
> integrate social standards (that address consumer, environmental,
> and labor concerns) into trade agreements. In the World Trade
> Organization, Washington should link its rhetorical support for
> introducing worker rights into the organization with support for
> greater transparency within the WTO and opposition to expanding
> the powers of the WTO into new investment arenas. On the regional
> and bilateral level, the U.S. government should insist that
> future trade agreements include enforceable social charters.
> 
> Strong international standards for corporate conduct will depend
> on strict national laws regulating business operations.
> International laws and conventions will have no effect unless
> they are built on a foundation of tough national standards.
> Government-at the local, state, and federal level-should not
> relax domestic regulations in the hope of keeping TNC production
> at home. Instead, it should work on the domestic and
> international fronts to make corporations more socially
> responsible. In this regard, the social provisions of the GSP,
> Caribbean Basin Initiative, NAFTA, and other trade-related
> programs and agreements should be strictly enforced.
> 
> As corporate power transcends national boundaries, citizen
> movements throughout the world need to work together to monitor
> and press for better regulation of TNC activity. National and
> international citizen movements, like those that emerged during
> the NAFTA debate, demonstrate that citizens can play a
> fundamental role in influencing international economic policy.
> 
> Citizen action to regulate international corporate operations is
> not limited to the institutional arena. The Coalition for Justice
> in the Maquiladoras (CJM) formulated a code of conduct to promote
> social responsibility in assembly plants on the U.S.-Mexico
> border. By generating publicity about inadequate working
> conditions, utilizing shareholder pressure, and organizing
> visitor exchanges, CJM prods maquila owners to adopt socially
> responsible business practices.
> 
> Boycotts, publicity, and labeling campaigns are other forms of
> action that can effectively challenge corporate power outside of
> institutional channels. Consumer support, boycotts, or boycott
> threats against such companies as the Gap, Starbuck's, and Levi-
> Strauss helped persuade these corporations to adopt codes of
> socially responsible practices. Groups such as Global Exchange
> and the National Labor Committee are pressing reluctant TNCs to
> make these codes more meaningful. In a few campaigns, such as one
> targeting at the Gap in 1995, corporations have conceded to allow
> independent monitors into the factories of their overseas
> subcontractors. Groups like the Interfaith Center on Corporate
> Responsibility have organized stockholders to hold transnational
> corporations more accountable. Another strategy, adopted by
> groups such as the Fair Trade Federation and Trans Fair USA, is
> to support alternative production and marketing networks that can
> point the way to more responsible TNC practices.
> 
> Labeling campaigns, such as the "dolphin safe" symbol on tuna
> cans, are another effective way to influence corporate behavior.
> The use of voluntary ecolabels or labor labels provides a
> valuable approach toward ensuring corporate accountability since
> it alerts consumers to the conditions under which a product has
> been produced. The appropriateness of food-safety labeling has
> been accepted by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
> (GATT), the predecessor to the WTO, thereby opening the door for
> citizen efforts to insist on social labeling for other aspects of
> the production process.
> 
> A combination of local, national, and international initiatives
> are needed to regulate TNC operations. Global corporations now
> dominate all of our economies, rendering national regulation less
> effective in controlling business activity. International
> agreements that require TNC subsidiaries to inform host nations
> about their production processes, their use of toxic chemicals,
> and their actual costs and income should receive U.S. backing.
> The U.S. government should also lead the way to make TNCs more
> accountable and responsible to local communities. While
> international in scope, most TNCs still depend on national and
> local government to provide services and infrastructure.
> Governments need to ensure that TNCs pay their share of these
> costs. Toward this aim, strong right-to-know laws should also be
> enacted.
> 
> Finally, the United States must make fundamental reforms in
> campaign financing. Until elections are freed from excessive
> corporate financing, politicians will remain highly susceptible
> to corporate influence, often against the interests of the
> majority.
> 
> With strong pressure from labor, environmental, and other
> movements, the U.S. government still holds the power to make
> corporate behavior far more socially and environmentally
> responsible.
> 
> 
> Sources for more information
> 
> Organizations
> 
> International Forum on Globalization
> Victor Menotti
> 1555 Pacific Ave. NW
> San Francisco, CA 94109
> Voice: (415) 771-3394
> Fax: (415) 771-1121
> Email: vmenotti@xxxxxxx
> 
> Fair Trade Federation (IATP/Global Exchange)
> 1313 Fifth St. SE, Suite 303
> Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546
> Voice: (612) 379-5980
> Fax: (612) 379-5982
> Email: iatp@xxxxxxxx
> 
> Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
> David Schilling
> 475 Riverside Dr., Room 566
> New York, NY 10115
> Voice: (212) 870-2928
> 
> Global Exchange
> Medea Benjamin and Kevin Danaher
> 2017 Mission St., Suite 303
> San Francisco, CA 94110
> Voice: (415) 255-7296
> Fax: (415) 255-7498
> Email:  gx-media@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Email:  gx-kevin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
> Susan Mika
> 3120 W. Ashby
> San Antonio, TX 78228
> Voice: (210) 732-8957
> Fax: (210) 732-8324
> 
> 
> Development Group for Alternative Policies
> Karen Hansen-Kuhn
> 927 15th St. NW, Suite 204
> Washington, DC 20005
> Voice: (202) 898-1566
> Fax: (202) 898-1612
> Email:  dgap@xxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Institute for Policy Studies
> Sarah Anderson, John Cavanagh
> 1601 Connecticut Ave. NW
> Washington, DC 20009
> Voice: (202) 234-9382
> Fax: (202) 387-7915
> Email: ipsps@xxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Multinationals Resource Center
> Marsha Caroll
> P.O. Box 19405
> Washington, DC 20036
> Voice: (202) 387-8030
> Fax: (202) 0234-5176
> Email: mcaroll@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> National Labor Committee
> Barbara Briggs, Charlie Kernighan
> 275 7th Ave.New York, NY 10001
> Voice: (212) 242-3002
> Fax: (212) 242-3821
> 
> Program of Corporations, Law, and Democracy
> Richard Grossman
> 211 1/2 Bradford St.
> Provincetown, MA 02657
> Voice/Fax: (508) 487-3151
> 
> Trans Fair USA
> Monika Firl
> 1313 Fifth St. SE
> Minneapolis, MN 555414
> Voice: (612) 379-5965
> Toll Free: 1-800-872-0049
> Fax: (612) 379-5982
> Email: transfairusa@xxxxxxxx
> 
> Best Global Practices Program
> Office of Export Promotion Coordination
> U.S. Department of Commerce
> 14th St. and Constitution, Room 2003
> Washington, DC 20230
> Voice: (202) 482-1125
> Fax: (202) 482-4452
> Website:  (Best Global Practices) http://www.ita.doc.gov/itahome