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From: Bill Horne <[log in to unmask]>
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Dear Friends:
There's a strange silence on the part of media and politicians about the
MAI. The Liberals, Tories, Reform and Bloc Québecois are all in favour of
it, but avoid discussing it. The NDP is supposedly against it, but is saying
very little (Alexa M was on CBC Radio's The House this morning and was again
mum). Here then are some more details on this critical issue so you can get
a sense of its far reaching implications, in case you haven't received this
Bulletin already. I encourage everyone to raise it at all candidates'
meetings, phone-in programs, letters to the editor and so on.
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Canadian Conference of the Arts – Conférence canadienne des arts BULLETIN
MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT ON INVESTMENTS - THE LAST PLANK IN THE FENCE?
April 9, 1997 - As Canadians prepare for another federal election, the
government we elect may have considerably less autonomy if we sign on to an
OECD proposed international agreement on investment.
The Multilateral Agreement on Investment proposes a radical new regime which
virtually eliminates borders for foreign investors among signatory states.
Under the agreement, investors are broadly defined to include:
"a legal person or any other entity constituted or organised under the
applicable law of a Contracting Party (signatory state), whether or not for
profit, and whether private or government owned or controlled, and includes
a corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture,
association or organisation."
With equal comprehensiveness, the agreement defines investments as:
"(a) Every kind of asset owned or controlled, directly [or indirectly] by an
investor including:
(i) an enterprise (being a legal person or any other entity constituted or
organised under the applicable law of the Contracting Party, whether or not
for profit, and whether private or government owned or controlled, and
includes a corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, branch,
joint venture, association or organisation);
(ii) shares, stocks or other forms of equity participation in an enterprise,
and rights derived therefrom;
(iii) bonds, debentures, loans to and other form of debt [of an enterprise],
and rights derived therefrom;
(iv) rights under contracts, including turnkey, construction, management,
production or revenue- sharing contracts;
(v) claims to money and claims to performance;
(vi) intellectual property rights;
(vii) rights conferred pursuant to law or contract [such as] or [by virtue
of] concessions, licenses, authorisations and permits;
(viii) any other tangible and intangible, movable and immovable property,
and any related property rights, such as leases, mortgages, liens and
pledges, [unless such assets lack the characteristics of an investment.]"
Signatories to the agreement must extend Most Favoured Nation and National
Treatment for investors from the other signatory states. This means that any
nation which signs the agreement must provide exactly the same benefits to
other signatory states as it does to its own investors and corporations.
In fact, the proposal goes further in that it provides special treatment
which would guarantee to foreign investors the right to have temporary entry
and stay of investors and key personnel in any other signatory state. It
also provides the right of a dependent of such investors or key personnel to
work in Canada during the temporary stay [a period not exceeding 1-3 years].
To be eligible for temporary entry and stay the individuals "must comply
with applicable measures relating to public health and safety, criminal law
and national security".
As well as creating new rights for the global investor, the agreement
imposes restrictions on signatory states:
"No Contracting Party may impose, enforce or maintain any of the following
requirements, or enforce any commitment or undertaking, in connection with
the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, operation, or conduct
of an investment of an investor of a Contracting Party or of a
non-Contracting Party in its territory:
(a) to export a given level or percentage of goods or services;
(b) to achieve a given level or percentage of domestic content;
(c) to purchase, use or accord a preference to goods produced or services
provided in its territory, or to purchase goods or services from persons in
its territory;
(d) to relate in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or
value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows associated
with such investment;
(e) to restrict sales of goods or services in its territory that such
investment produces or provides by relating such sales in any way to the
volume or value of its exports or foreign exchange earnings;
(f) to transfer technology, a production process or other proprietary
knowledge to a natural or legal person in its territory [except when the
requirement is imposed or the commitment or undertaking is enforced by a
court, administrative tribunal or competition authority to remedy an alleged
violation of competition laws or to act in a manner not inconsistent with
other provisions of the Agreement];
(g) to locate its headquarters for a specific region or the world market in
that Contracting Party;
(h) to supply one or more of the goods that it produces or the services that
it provides to a specific region or world market exclusively from the
territory of that Contracting Party;
(i) to achieve a given level or value of production, investment,
manufacturing, sales,
employment, research and development in its territory;
(j) to hire a given level or type of local personnel;
(k) to establish a joint venture; or
(1) to achieve a minimum level of local equity participation."
The breadth of the agreement is truly breathtaking in its limitations on the
autonomy of national governments to encourage the development of indigenous
industry and enterprises, to exact a "net benefit" commitment from an
incoming foreign enterprise, and to ensure that the activities of the
foreign investment or enterprise make a contribution to the economic,
political or cultural life of the state.
While those of us in the cultural sector will be most concerned with the
provisions regarding intellectual property, other policies and programmes of
government to encourage the development of cultural industries and
non-cultural industries are equally endangered by this agreement. Regional
development programmes, co-production agreements, investment policies linked
to human rights and environmental considerations will be in direct jeopardy
if Canada signs this agreement.
With an election expected in the near future, Canadians in the cultural
sector and beyond must send a clear message to political aspirants that we
are not interested in the further erosion of our fragile political and
economic autonomy.
The Multilateral Agreement on Investment must be stopped!
For More Information:
Keith Kelly, National Director
(613) 238-3561; (613) 239-4849 FAX
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Note from Bill Horne: if you find this stuff unbelievable, check out the
OECD Internet Home Page which can be found at http://www.oecd.org.
The OECD Washington Center Home Page can be found at http://www.oecdwash.org.
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Bill Horne
President, CARFAC-BC
Canadian Artists' Representation/le front des artistes canadiens
"Art is important; artists are >>more<< important" ;-)
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CARFAC B.C. CARFAC National
P.O. Box 2359 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 442
Vancouver, B.C. Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8
V6B 3W5 tel 416-595-0045 fax: 416-340-8458
<[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask]>
http://www.interlog.com/~caro/site/home.htm
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Bill's home address:
Amazing Space Studio & Gallery
Box 41, Wells, BC V0K 2R0
tel 250-994-2332 fax 250-994-2335
permanent e-mail: <[log in to unmask]>
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