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WTO Asbestos Appeal
In September, 2000, the WTO rejected Canada’s appeal of an earlier ruling that will require Canada to further restrict access to cheaper generic drugs. In an open letter to the Liberal International Trade Minister, Bill Blaikie argued that the government’s decision to appeal the WTO asbestos ruling is undermining Canada’s credibility in defending its own right to regulate in the public interest in areas such as generic drug pricing. His media release and open letter are included below.
ASBESTOS APPEAL UNDERMINES CANADIAN CREDIBILITY ON ACCESS TO CHEAPER GENERIC DRUGS: NDP TRADE CRITIC
MEDIA RELEASE - SEPTEMBER 21, 2000
OTTAWA – "It’s time for the Trade Minister to rethink his failed trade policy and address the democratic deficit at the WTO," NDP Trade Critic Bill Blaikie said today.
In an open letter to the Minister of International Trade, Mr. Blaikie charged that the government’s decision to appeal a WTO ruling upholding France’s public health ban on asbestos is undermining Canada’s credibility in defending its own right to regulate in the public interest. A copy of this letter is enclosed below.
"Surely, the Trade Minister must see the hypocrisy in working to undermine France’s right to set its own health and safety standards, while at the same time trying to defend Canada’s right to regulate drug prices from similar WTO challenges," Mr. Blaikie said.
Mr. Blaikie argued that similar hypocrisy on the part of all WTO signatories is undermining democracy across the globe: "Often, while a given nation is fighting a WTO ruling against a national policy of its own, it is simultaneously trying to use the WTO to strike down a national policy of another government which is harmful to the interests of its exporters. In these various challenges, each nation may win occasional victories for its exporters, but it loses many more cases on behalf of its broader citizenry. The outcome is a radically diminished scope for democracy in all nations."
Mr. Blaikie called on the Trade Minister to reverse its decision to appeal the WTO ruling on France’s asbestos ban.
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An Open Letter to the Minister of International Trade
September 21, 2000
The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of International Trade
Room 507, Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Dear Minister,
It was with tremendous disappointment that I learned this week of your decision to appeal the recent World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel ruling that upheld France’s ban on chrysotile asbestos against a challenge by your government.
In the media release announcing your decision to appeal, you stated that, "Canada is in no way calling into question a country’s right to adopt regulations in the public interest, or to set appropriate levels of protection for public health reasons." In the context of an announcement that you will once again attempt to use an unelected WTO panel to undermine a law passed democratically by France to protect the health and safety of its citizens, this statement defies all credibility. While you may disagree with France’s assessment of the appropriate level of protection for the health and safety of its citizens, surely it is up to the France’s democratic process and not an unelected WTO Panel to determine that appropriate level.
By trying to use the WTO to undermine France’s right to pass laws in its public interest, you are undermining Canada’s moral authority in defending its own right to pass laws in the Canadian public interest. Already this year, two WTO rulings, one of them resulting from a challenge by the European Union, are forcing Canada to further restrict access to cheaper generic drugs, thereby undermining a drug patent regulatory regime that your government has often described as a delicate compromise among Canadian stakeholders. Surely, you must see the hypocrisy in working to undermine France’s own democratically arrived at compromises among its citizens, while at the same time trying to defend Canada’s right to regulate in the public interest from similar WTO challenges.
What is increasingly obvious to more and more Canadians is that the WTO and similar free trade regimes are rapidly undermining the right of all democracies to legislate in the public interest. Often, while a given nation is fighting a WTO ruling against a national policy of its own, it is simultaneously trying to use the WTO to strike down a national policy of another government which is harmful to the interests of its exporters. In these various challenges, each nation may win occasional victories for its exporters, but it loses many more cases on behalf of its broader citizenry. The outcome is a radically diminished scope for democracy in all nations.
It is time that you rethink your trade policy and take leadership at the WTO negotiating table to address the growing "democratic deficit" created by free trade agreements. And in the interest of retaining some shred of credibility in defending Canada’s right to regulate in the public interest, I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to appeal the WTO ruling against your challenge of France’s ban on asbestos.
Yours sincerely,
Bill Blaikie, MP for Winnipeg-Transcona
NDP International Trade Critic
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