home of the wildlife conservation environmental and freedom activist

Green Party of New York State E-News Vol. 1, No. 7, June 20, 2001

In this issue:

1. Introduction

2. Action and Activity alerts (AAAs)
-                       Rally at NYC Stock Exchange: Oppose $1.1B Public
Subsidy for new Trading Floor, June 21, New York City
-       Dioxin/Cancer Protest, Thursday, June 21st, 2001, Syracuse,
NY;  NYS Dioxin Work Group Forming
-       Roll Your Own Blackout  June 21st 7-10 PM anywhere
-       Celebrate Reopening of Manhattan Bridge Bike Path, June 29, New
York City
-       Reminder: State Committee Seats Are Vacant!
-       New web site for Green Party of New York State: http://www.gpnys.org/
-                       Tell Ford To Publicly Support the Kyoto Treaty to
Stop Global Warming


  3. Meetings and Events:
-                       Cool Not Cruel Show and Benefit, Tuesday, June 19,
6:00 p.m, New York City
-       Stop Global Aids Now -- March and Rally June 23, New York City
-       Rally for Rockefeller Drug Laws Reform, Harlem, New York City, June 30
-                       Campus Greens Founding Convention  August 9 -
August 12, University of Illinois, Chicago
4. Featured Local: Bay Ridge Greens



5. News, News Links, Resources
News
-                       Getting turned on over a turn-off, By Carrie Peyton
-       Instant Runoff Voting Makes Good Sense for Democracy
-       German Government And Energy Bosses To Sign Nuclear Deal Monday
-       Schenectady Greens rally for civilian review, Daily Gazette
Newslinks
-                       WINDPOWER - A New Crop for Farmers
-       Seeds Of Discontent: Farmers - And The Public - May Soon Learn
There's No Turning Back On Genetically Modified Foods. . . ."


1.      INTRODUCTION

Welcome to another issue of the Green Party of New York State's
E-News!  Our goal is to update Greens across the state about important
issues, news, events, and resources. We hope you will find E-News
informative and entertaining. We welcome your comments, contributions and
assistance. Send your news, events, and Alerts for the next issue to Cathy
Sadell at csadell@prodigy.net and let us know if you would like to help
write the next issue.  Special thanks to Ann Link, who is now coordinating
the News and Featured Local sections. Note that E-News will print letters
to the editor from Greens, Nader supporters, and people with something
interesting to say. Deadline for submissions to next issue: Friday, July
20, 2001. If you would prefer not to receive the newsletter, please notify
Masada Disenhouse at masada@akula.com. To learn more about green issues
work in New York or to contact your local Green chapter please visit
www.greens.org/ny. For information about green party electoral work in New
York, including state committee news and elections, please visit
http://www.gpnys.org/.

2. ACTION AND ACTIVITY alerts ( AAAs)

RALLY AT STOCK EXCHANGE TO OPPOSE $1.1 BILLION PUBLIC SUBSIDY FOR NEW
TRADING FLOOR
Thursday, June 21, New York City

The Campaign for Corporate Accountability will hold a rally on the steps of
Federal Hall at Broad and Wall Streets on Thursday, June 21 from 4:00 to
5:00 P.M. to call upon the Governor and Mayor to eliminate the proposed
$1.1 billion public subsidy to construct a new trading for the New York
Stock Exchange.

A growing number of community organizations are opposing the largest
corporate welfare deal in the City's history as a waste of taxpayer monies,
particularly when the City has major unmet needs in the areas of education,
health care, hunger, homelessness, infrastructure maintenance, genuine
community development, mass transit and the environment. The groups are
also calling for the State Legislature to enact the Corporate Disclosure
and Taxpayer Protection Act (A7291 - Luster) to require standardized
disclosure, reporting and performance standards for such economic
development projects. Speakers at the rally will include Rabbi Michael
Feinberg, Executive Director of the NYS Labor-Religion Coalition; Jonathan
Bowles, Center for an Urban Future, who handled corporate welfare issues
for former State Senator Franz Leichter; Samara Swanstrom, Watch Person
Project (Brooklyn), a leader of the environmental justice movement; Kwong
Hui, a City Council candidate and organizer on immigrant workers' rights;
Barbara Whittie, Community Voices Heard (welfare rights group); Steve
DiBrienza, City Council Member; Ray Fleischhacker, an attorney and
representative of the tenants at 45 Wall Street who will be evicted by the
project; and Ray Rogers, Director of Corporate Campaigns Inc.  Critics note
that it is hard to imagine a less deserving candidate for a government
subsidy than the New York Stock Exchange, the world wide symbol of
free-market capitalism. Last year the 1,366 member companies of NYSE had
gross revenues of $245 billion and after-tax profits of $13 billion - a 30%
increase from the prior year. If in fact the NYSE needs a new facility, it
should have no trouble raising funds to construct one, or drawing on the
immense wealth of its member and listed firms. Some of the groups opposing
the proposed $1.1 billion subsidy include City Project, Community Voices
Heard, NYC Labor-Religion Coalition, West Side Campaign Against Hunger,
Citizens Environmental Coalition, Save the Earth, Brooklyn Greens, Lower
East Side Greens, United for a Fair Economy, Center for an Urban Future,
Urban Justice Center, National Employment Law Project, Fifth Avenue
Committee, Community Food Resource Center, Alliance for Democracy, NYS
Greens, North American Coalition for Christianity and Ecology, Jews for
Racial & Economic Justice, The Third Wave, Association for Neighborhood and
Housing Development, Metropolitan Council on Housing, Goddard Riverside
Community Center, Bronx Greens, LI Progressive Coalition, Corporate
Campaigns Inc., Mt. Vernon United Tenants.


DIOXIN/CANCER PROTEST -- GREEN ACTIVISM BATTLING CANCER CAUSING POLLUTION
AND GOVERNMENT INACTION IN NEW YORK STATE, THURSDAY, JUNE 21ST, 2001, 10:00 AM

Where: Federal Building, 100 S. Clinton St., Syracuse, NY

Industry, agribusiness and the federal government must stop deceiving the
american public about the cancer risk imposed by dioxin emissions. Release
the final draft of the dioxin reassessment now.
Syracuse greens, st. Lawrence river valley greens acting in unison.

Our federal government must move forward quickly with measures aimed at
reducing dioxin emissions and informing the public upon how to avoid
exposures to these chemical carcinogens. Americans who consume moderate to
heavy quantities of animal fats have a 1 in 100 excess risk of developing
cancer due to the dioxin, furan and dioxin-like PCB contaminants in such
foods as dairy products, beef and fish.

In "Exposure and Human Health Reassessment of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachloro-
dibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) and Related Compounds", the US EPA quantifies what
is clearly a major cause of cancer in the United States. Breast cancer and
colorectal cancer are highly associated with animal fat consumption. To
what degree are these cancers caused by the dioxin contaminants and other
carcinogenic persistent organic pollutants in animal fats?

The US Senate Environment and Health Committee held hearings on breast
cancer and pollution at Adelphi College, Garden City, on June 11th, 2001.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton presided at four hours of testimony from
environmental health experts. Now that US EPA's dioxin reassessment is in
the hands of Administrator Whitman, final draft release should occur before
summer's end. Events such as these bring America ever closer to a
revolutionary viewpoint change on carcinogens, manufacturing processes,
waste disposal and cancer prevention.

This is a powerful time for Green Movement building. Greens interested in
the cancer/pollution connection are requested to participate in a series of
activist events at the federal buildings across New York State. We can take
a dominant role to the other political parties in these matters. Democrats
and Republicans are seriously weakened by the lobbying pressures of the
Chlorine Chemistry Council, and agribusiness groups such as Farm Bureau and
the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, when it comes to cancer
prevention via pollution elimination. Contact the St. Lawrence River Valley
Greens at: canceraction@hotmail.com or 315 393-1975. In Nature, Donald L.
Hassig, St. Lawrence River Valley Greens

JOIN NYS DIOXIN WORK GROUP
Now that the assembly has endorsed the concept of Greens working together
across NY to eliminate open waste burning, incineration and the burning of
tires, creosoted wood and plastics in electric generation facilities, we
propose that a Greens working group on dioxins be established. Any NY State
Green interested in participating is asked to contact Donald L. Hassig, St.
Lawrence River Valley Greens, canceraction@hotmail.com The pace of dioxin
activism is rapidly accelerating with imminent release of the dioxin
reassessment to be followed by the first draft of the CROSS-MEDIA DIOXIN
STRATEGY. These advances should occur by no later than
September.  Ratification effort on the Stockholm Convention/ Persistent
Organic Pollutants Treaty serve to further maintain the dioxin focus.
Senator Charles Schumer has promised a supporting vote. A great amount of
latitude exists in the treaty, allowing each nation to decide just how
serious its efforts will be to reduce dioxin pollution. Strong grassroots
support for virtual elimination will pressure the Bush administration to
accomplish significant abatement of dioxin creation, via both combustion
and PVC production changes.

For Further Information: Donald L. Hassig, St. Lawrence River Valley
Greens, canceraction@hotmail.com or 315-393-1975.

************************************************************************************************************************************

ROLL YOUR OWN BLACK OUT for THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, Thurs. June 21st 7-10pm:
In protest of George W. Bush's energy policies and lack of emphasis on
efficiency, conservation and alternative fuels, there will be a voluntary
rolling blackout on the first day of summer, 7-10pm in any time zone (this
will roll it across the
planet). Its a simple protest and a symbolic act. Turn out your lights from
7pm-10pm on June 21. Unplug whatever you can unplug in your house. Light a
candle and do something instead of watching television, have fun in the
dark. Forward this email as widely as possible, to your government
representatives and environmental contacts. Let them know we want global
education, participation and funding in conservation, efficiency and
alternative fuel efforts -- and an end to over exploitation and misuse of
the earth's resources.  See article in News section, below.


CELEBRATE REOPENING OF MANHATTAN BRIDGE BIKE PATH, June 29, New York City
New York Time's Up!, the direct action environmental group announces the
Manhattan Bridge Opening Celebration taking place June 29 at approximately
8:00 p.m. at the Manhattan side of the bridge to celebrate the planned
opening of the renovated and long overdue Manhattan Bridge pedestrian and
bike path linking Chinatown and Lower Manhattan with D.U.M.B.O. and other
neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Hundreds of participants are expected. Call
(212) 802-8222 for more info.


REMINDER: STATE COMMITTEE SEATS ARE VACANT!
The State Committee is the elected green body that develops bylaws for
green electoral process, nominates state-wide candidates, considers
authorizations and interfaces with the Board of Elections. We are looking
to fill vacancies on the State Committee, especially in counties where
there is no representation currently. Only enrolled Greens are eligible to
run for a seat on the State Committee. Duties consist of up to 4 meetings
per year generally held in the Hudson Valley region.  If you are an
enrolled Green in New York State and want to learn more about running for
State Committee, please contact Dan Schaffer at 718-499-6527 or Mark Dunlea
at 518 286-3411.


NEW WEB SITE FOR GREEN PARTY OF NEW YORK STATE: HTTP://WWW.GPNYS.ORG/
The Green Party of New York State announces a new website to keep greens in
New York state updated about electoral issues. It will provide information
about: who your state committee representatives are; the schedule for
petitioning and elections from the Board of Election; information on
existing green campaigns and how to run your own, and much more. It will
also soon provide a web-based version of THIS E-NEWS, including back
issues! Information on the New York State Greens Assembly, including
information regarding local green chapters and non-electoral issues that
greens are pursuing may still be found at: www.greens.org/ny. Please note
that the web site is new and many links are still inactive, but will
hopefully be working very soon so bookmark today! For more information or
to help out with the web page, please contact Rachel Treichler at:
718-623-2698 or treichler@ecobooks.com.


TELL FORD TO PUBLICLY SUPPORT THE KYOTO TREATY TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING
On May 8, the Ford Motor Company spent an estimated $200,000 on
advertisements in USA Today, the New York Times, and the Financial Times
professing its concern about global warming. Yet, Ford has said directly:
it doesn't
support the treaty. That's greenwashing.

The Ford Motor Company is also part of an industry lobbying group - the
U.S. Council of International Business - which is backing President Bush's
move to derail the only international effort to stop global warming - the
Kyoto Treaty. Tell Ford to replace rhetoric with action and publicly
support the Kyoto Treaty!
Act Now:
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/takeaction/ford.htm
Learn More:
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/save/alerts/ford.htm
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/features/fortune100.htm


3. MEETINGS AND EVENTS

COLL NOT CRUEL SHOW AND BENEFIT
Tuesday, June 19, 6:00 p.m., Session 73 - First Avenue at 73rd Street -
Manhattan, New York, NY
Contact :  Sara Cross, 646-221-6363
coolnotcruel is pleased to invite you to a special sale and party to
benefit NYCAP. Styling the world of change, changing the world of style,
coolnotcruel caters to the urban chic, fashion conscious, socially and
environmentally responsible consumer. New York Coalition for Alternatives
to Pesticides (NYCAP) is a non-profit, grass-roots organization committed
to the elimination of pesticide hazards through education and outreach.
Clothing for both men and women, made from such materials as organic
cotton, hemp, alpaca wool and organic wool, in a range of sizes and
colours, will be sold at wholesale prices. 10% of sales will be donated to
NYCAP. Cash and checks only, no credit cards. Raffle prizes donated by
environmental companies will be drawn and awarded at 8:30pm. Drinks will
include organic wine.



STOP GLOBAL AIDS NOW  -- MARCH AND RALLY JUNE 23, NYC

Add your voice to speakers from South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, Brazil,
Kenya, Ghana in demanding action to STOP GLOBAL AIDS NOW.

Meet 11am Washington Square Park and March to Bryant Park (Permit
Pending).  The rally at Bryant Park will be hosted by a number of speakers
will including people living with HIV and activists from grass-roots
movements from the Global South issuing calls to action.

Before world leaders discuss HIV/AIDS at the United Nations and before the
G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy WE WILL BE IN THE STREETS DEMANDING ACTION FROM
OUR POLICY MAKERS:

Dollars: We call on the U.S. and other wealthy countries to invest multiple
billions in grants to the Global AIDS FUND and to national AIDS plans in
developing countries.

Debt: We call on the World Bank and IMF to cancel 100% of the odious
international debt owed to them by all impoverished countries heavily
impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Drugs: We call on the U.S. and other wealthy countries to ensure access to
lifesaving AIDS medications, including generically manufactured drugs, at
the lowest cost.

FOR INFO:
vmail 212-208-4533
email  info@stopglobalaidsnow.org
For a list of endorsers, campaign materials and info go to:
www.stopglobalaidsnow.org
For background information go to: www.globaltreatmentaccess.org


RALLY FOR ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS REFORM, HARLEM, NYC, JUNE 30
Come to a rally hosted by the Interfaith Partnership for Criminal Justice
in NY City (IFP) on the Rockefeller Drug Laws, June 30, at 12-3 p.m.  We
will march from 116th St and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. to 125th and Malcolm
X Blvd, and will rally on Malcolm X Blvd.  The rally is co-sponsored by the
New York City Greens.

The IFP is the local organizing vehicle of JusticeWorks' national
organizing campaign, Mothers in Prison, Children in Crisis. This campaign
seeks mandatory alternatives for women convicted of non-violent offences
beginning with mothers and their children. The IFP is actively organizing
and mobilizing faith based and progressive groups in New York City, and in
particular the seven neighborhoods most impacted by the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

IFP has invited state legislators who will speak to the Rockefeller Drug
Laws and its impact on communities and families. At this Rally we will hear
from ex-prisoners, family and friends of the incarcerated and members of
the larger community.

In preparation for the Rally, IFP will be conducting an organizers'
training on June 9 at St. Aloysius Church in Harlem to provide individuals
with organizing skills. For information, contact Jessica Dias at
JusticeWorks Community at 718 499 6704, or visit www.justiceworks.org


CAMPUS GREENS FOUNDING CONVENTION, Thurs. 8/9  Sun. 8/12, 2001, University
of Illinois-Chicago

The Campus Greens, a democratic organization that seeks to unite the Green
and progressive third-party groups based on academic campuses nationwide,
will hold its founding convention August 9 through 12 at U. Illinois-Chicago.

The convention will include a plenary session in which delegates will
ratify bylaws, elect leadership, and determine national organizing strategy
for the year to come.

To affiliate your college chapter with the Campus Greens and get full
voting rights at the convention, contact: corey@campusgreenparties.org, or
download our chapter registration form at www.campusgreenparties.org.

EVENTS
From late afternoon of August 9, through the late morning of August 12,
the Campus Greens will pack a schedule chock-full of events for you to
attend --including a Super Rally in the style of the Nader2000 campaign.

The main goal of our convention is for everyone who attends to leave a more
enlightened, and empowered activist than they were when they came. To this
end, we will schedule skills, issues, and identity workshops, and panel
discussions designed to explore the dynamics of being a successful radical
organizer.

Convention will include:
Skills Workshops
Issues Workshops
Identity Workshops
Panel Discussions
Caucus Meetings
Committee Meetings
Plenary Session
SUPER RALLY (Friday, August 10)

For further information on attending, volunteering, signing up your school,
transportation, housing and registration contact:
corey@campusgreenparties.org right away!!!


4. FEATURED LOCAL: BAY RIDGE GREENS

The Bay Ridge Greens were formed in December 2000, so we are one of the
newest locals in New York. We are also a relatively small local, averaging
eight to ten people per meeting. We believe that is good, since most of our
members are new to the Green party, and new to activism. This allows every
member to have input into what the local will do, and how best to make it
grow.

There are several issues that we are working on as a local. One is the lack
of documents provided by the City translated into Arabic. There is a
sizable contingent of Arabs in Bay Ridge, and the services they receive are
meager. We have translated the "Parent's Bill of Rights," which explains
all rights and obligations expected of parents of children attending public
school. We hope to distribute this to public schools in the area, then to
schools throughout the city.

We are also focusing on transportation in Bay Ridge. We are underserved in
this community as far as public transit goes. There is no regular bus
service into Manhattan except for the express buses, and they both run
infrequently, and are unsafe "tour style" buses, with only one exit, narrow
aisles, and handrails that are too high for average passengers to reach. We
are fighting for more and better service in Bay Ridge.

The Bay Ridge Greens are also trying to get more people participating in
the Recycling program, and we'd also like to start exploring ways in which
it could be expanded to include more materials to be recycled.

Tying all this together, we are also running a candidate for City Council.
Michael Emperor is running in the 43rd district. He hopes to highlight what
the bay Ridge Greens have been working on and make them part of his platform.

Although the Bay Ridge Greens are a small and new local, we believe the
seeds are in place to grow a strong and diverse local that participates
strongly in improving the quality of life for ordinary citizens. For
further information, please contact Michael Emperor at (212) 334-9435 or
BrooklynEmperor@aol.com.


5. NEWS, NEWS LINKS, RESOURCES

GETTING TURNED ON OVER A TURN-OFF
By Carrie Peyton, Sacramento Bee (California) Staff Writer (Published June
14, 2001)

Political action doesn't get much easier than this: Pull a plug. Flip a switch.

If you dislike utilities, like the environment or know anyone who does you
might already have received an e-mail call to "Roll Your Own Blackout" for
three hours next week on the day of the summer solstice.

Flocks of anonymous e-mails have been swooping across the Internet for
weeks promoting the hand-rolled, voluntary blackout aimed at fostering
conservation.

It is a phenomenon that points out just how deeply energy issues have
wormed into the national consciousness, as well as how much the Internet
has become the world's water cooler and its bulletin board.

The messages urge people everywhere to turn out their lights and unplug
what they can from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, creating a dip in energy use that
would roll across time zones -- part protest and part party.

"Talk to your kids. Watch the stars come out. Cuddle. Pretend the TV's
broken. Think what can happen when tens of thousands join this peaceful
protest against price-gouging and environmental irresponsibility," exhorts
a Web page devoted to the idea.

Marilyn Nyborg of Grass Valley says she's thinking about flipping a circuit
breaker to cut off all power to her house Thursday night, but at the very
least her lights and television will be off.

"It's beautiful outside now. It's nice to sit on the porch. As it gets
darker I don't mind using a flashlight to read and spend some time with my
partner and our new kitties," she said.

Nyborg, 62, a high-tech recruiter who calls herself a "quiet activist,"
said she'll be taking part to demonstrate that people can come together to
conserve.

"I take great offense at (President) Bush's comment that it's our right as
Americans to waste fuel. I don't think it is. We're also stewards of the
planet," she said.

David Aragon, a Berkeley engineer who says he coined the phrase "Roll Your
Own Blackout" online for a similar protest, said the idea had its roots in
politics but is nonpartisan.

He said he just learned this week that Los Angeles artist Monica Rex was
the one who expanded his notion, scheduled it for the first day of summer
and sent it out into the world.

Rex said she e-mailed a few paragraphs to about 50 friends in mid-April and
posted them on a handful of Web sites to make people aware that they have
the power over how energy is used.

She thought so little of it at the time that she didn't keep a copy.

"I didn't know it would get anywhere, actually," she said. But it took off.

By mid-May, multiple copies were landing in e-mail boxes of nearly everyone
with environmental or energy interests. An organic farming public relations
firm publicized it further, saying "millions" of people had been alerted.
Newspapers from Seattle to Denver began writing about the anonymous
upswelling. Web pages sprang up dedicated to it.

"Everyone I know has seen it. This has swept the globe," said Jeff Softley,
a West Hollywood bartender and longtime environmentalist who has tried for
more than a decade to promote the idea of an "Energy Fast" on Earth Day.

Softley, who knows a little about stirring up community action, was so
struck by how quickly the message moved that he speculated a big
environmental group was probably behind it, trying to appear grass roots.

"I just think it caught people's imagination," said Rex. "I am just amazed
at how things move around the Internet." She theorizes that her name was
stripped off early in the forwarding process, making it appear anonymous
when she had no particular interest in either hiding from the idea or in
promoting it.

It really doesn't take much to bring a single idea to millions of people,
said David Goff, a University of Southern Mississippi professor who
co-edited the book "Understanding the Web."

"When you get it in the hands of like-minded people, it doesn't take long
for that multiplier effect to operate, and it will go very far very fast,"
he said.

E-mail- and Web-driven protests have triggered fuel boycotts in Great
Britain and Internet boycotts in France, Goff said, and "we're in the early
stages of this."

The whimsical blackout message -- circulated in several versions -- calls
on people turn off what they can, then "light a candle to the sun god, kiss
and tell, make love, tell ghost stories, do something instead of watching
television, have fun in the dark."

Many versions say the voluntary blackout -- "a simple protest and a
symbolic act" -- is being held to protest Bush's disdain for conservation,
energy efficiency and alternative fuels.

Some variants direct people to books on alternative energy and energy
efficiency. Some say the candle should burn for the sun goddess. Some add a
gentle caution, to unplug only what can be "safely" dispensed with.

Michael Straus of Point Reyes said he plans to take part by having a
candlelight dinner with his parents. Straus, whose "Beyond Organic" PR firm
helped tout the idea, said he put the message out over a public interest
and academic news wire after it kept landing in his mailbox.

The message has zinged from state to state and reportedly reached Europe
and Asia. It has hit e-mail lists devoted to everything from feminism to
used-book sellers. A Texas newspaper credited it to a river protection
group called American Rivers, something the flattered but bemused
organization denied.

Millions of people would have to be involved for their efforts to show up
on the computers of the California Independent System Operator in Folsom,
which constantly monitors electricity use to match demand with supply.

If 10 million households turned off a single 100 watt light bulb at once,
100 megawatts would drop off the state's electric grid -- probably not
noticeable amid 30,000 or so megawatts of early evening demand, said Jim
Detmers, an ISO vice president.

But 200 to 300 megawatts of reduced demand might be detectable under the
right conditions, if sudden changes in wind or temperatures or cloud cover
don't obscure the effect, he said.

Computer engineer Aragon said he has no idea how many people will turn off
and tune out June 21.

"That's almost like speculating on the spot price of electricity," he said.
"I wouldn't touch it." ''

*********************************************************************************************************************************

INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING MAKES GOOD SENSE FOR DEMOCRACY
editorial by Xander Patterson, co-chairman of the Pacific Green Party, The
Oregonian, June 8, 2001

The Oregonian's editorial attacking instant runoff voting ("Don't dilute
meaning of vote," June 4) insults not only voters' intelligence but
fundamental American values, including democracy itself. Instant runoff
enhances rather than "dilutes" the meaning of our votes.

First, instant runoff voting, called IRV, is not too complicated for
Oregonians to understand and to use. IRV has been in use in Australia,
Ireland, Malta, and Cambridge, Mass., for many decades, and was recently
adopted to elect the mayor of London. Unlike The Oregonian, Greens have
confidence that Oregonians are just as capable of filling out a ballot as
these voters. And we trust our election officials are as capable of
counting them.

IRV is a modified form of the runoff election process currently used for
many local offices, including Portland's City Council. The difference
between "instant" runoff elections and the runoffs we are used to is that
voters are able to express their second choice in one trip to the polls
instead of two. This saves time and money.

IRV works like this: When voters fill out their ballots, they rank their
preference in candidates, rather than pick just one. (Example: 1st Perot,
2nd Bush Sr., 3rd Clinton). If no candidate receives a clear majority of
first-choice votes, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated and his or her
votes are transferred to the next choice marked on each ballot. The process
continues until a candidate obtains a clear majority.

Second, your editorial suggests that allowing voters to express their
preferences would somehow dilute the meaning of our votes. By that logic, a
menu with more than two choices makes eating less meaningful. IRV simply
says that if I order meatloaf, but the restaurant is out, I can still get
ameal.

Freedom of choice is one of the most fundamental American values. We
guarantee free speech and extol free markets to ensure that we will have a
full range of ideas and products to choose from. Many Oregonians want more
choices on the ballot. In 1950, only 1.5 percent of voters were registered
in minor parties or as Independents. Today, 24 percent are.

Even old party stalwarts such as Vermont's Sen. Jim Jeffords are abandoning
the major parties. As he left the Republican Party to become an independent
this week, so did Oregon's State Rep. Jan Lee. The Republicans and
Democrats maintain their "duopoly" on political power not because they are
doing such a great job or because they so completely represent the full
diversity of American political opinion.

We are stuck with them because our first-by-the-post electoral system robs
us of full and free political choice as effectively as if other parties
were banned altogether. Minor party supporters aren't hauled off to jail.
Instead, their votes are "thrown away" or twisted to have the opposite
effect of the voters' intent ("a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush").
That's what you call a meaningful vote?

Third, you dismiss IRV as if it were some frivolous indulgence. Tell that
to the ever-whimsical Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Banks. They
use a variation on IRV to elect their board of directors. So does the
American Political Science Association. IRV is supported by groups as
diverse as Common Cause and the Alaskan Republicans, who are tired of
having Libertarians cost them elections.

In 1908, Oregonians passed a ballot measure to amend the state constitution
to explicitly permit IRV. We should now implement IRV simply because it is
more democratic than our current system. It eliminates the spoiler dilemma
and the wasted-vote syndrome. It ensures that the candidates preferred by a
majority of voters will win.

Above all, IRV allows voters to use their ballots to express their
political views loudly, clearly and sincerely.

Now that's a meaningful vote. Got the message?

*********************************************************************************************************************************

GERMAN GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY BOSSES TO SIGN NUCLEAR DEAL MONDAY
by Michael Adler, Agence France Presse, June 11

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was Monday to sign what the government
has called a "historic" agreement with executives from the country's top
energy firms to phase out nuclear energy there.

The agreement, which will open the way for a parliamentary debate on the
issue, will formalise an accord reached one year ago that stipulates an
average working life of 32 years for each of Germany's 19 nuclear power plants.

That would mean most of the plants will be phased out by around 2018.

The agreement would also ban as of 2005 Germany's highly controversial
export of nuclear waste.

"It is a historic moment," Trittin, a member of the Greens party, said in
an interview published Monday in the Berlin newspaper Tagespiegel.

"Overseas in particular it is considered as such, as Germany is committing
itself to a complete ecological programme that contrasts with those in
other countries.

"It is not a question of the end of a particular technology, but of
creating a durable alternative, by the development of renewable energies
and the boosting of economies of energy."

But a clause in the deal to be signed Monday means that the last nuclear
plant will keep running well beyond the theoretical deadline of 2018. Plant
operators will be able to keep some reactors open longer provided they shut
down others early.

Greenpeace activists protested Monday at the party headquarters of both
Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) and his coalition partners the Greens
against what a Greens spokeswoman said was the too long delay in the phase-out.

"The so-called atom consensus is only a placebo for the population," she
said, adding that the ground around recycling centers in Sellafield,
Britain, and La Hague in France where German radioactive waste is sent was
being contaminated, causing higher rates of cancer in these regions.

Ulrich Hartmann, head of the Eon energy company and one of the industry
representatives who will sign the agreement, told Die Welt newspaper Monday
that there remained the possibility that the phase-out of nuclear energy
could be reversed, especially if the government changes.

"Nothing in life is irreversible," Hartmann said.

He said that despite the agreement being signed there was "no basic
consensus about nuclear energy" and that he was convinced nuclear power
would "in the future still play an important role" in supplying Germany's
energy.

Trittin said in a separate interview reported on German Inforadio on Monday
that it would be difficult for future governments to move against the
phase-out of nuclear energy since atomic power plants required massive
long-term investments.

When he launched the decommissioning initiative in January 1999, Schroeder
said negotiations with energy bosses "should proceed like porcupines when
they make love -- very, very prudently."

His caution proved well-founded. The arduous talks often threatened to
upset the fragile ruling coalition of Schroeder's Social Democrats and the
Greens, with the chancellor regularly calling Trittin to order.

The industrialists themselves walked out of the talks on several occasions.

Initially, Trittin insisted the transport of nuclear waste be prohibited by
January 1, 2000, but later back peddled, a move that sparked stiff
criticism from Germany's active anti-nuclear protesters.

The demonstrators have in the past chained themselves to railway tracks in
an attempt to block convoys of highly toxic waste heading for reprocessing
centres at La Hague, in France, and Britain's Sellafield plant.

But while the accord stipulates July 2005 as the closing date for convoys
leaving Germany, no fixed deadline has been set for their return.

The Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, is expected to vote on
the bill by mid-2002 at the latest.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

SCHENECTADY GREENS RALLY FOR CIVILIAN REVIEW
Group and supporters call for oversight of police force
DAILY GAZETTE

About two-dozen Green Party members and supporters at a Tuesday rally
called for an independent civilian review board to investigate complaints
of police misconduct and the need to hire a commissioner to oversee the
embattled police department.

"Problems are not getting better, they are getting worse in a city where
people deserve better,'' said Ron Sontag, Green Party acting county
chairman. People at the rally on the steps of City Hall carried placards
with various messages including, "Good Police Costs Less in Lawsuits,''
"Stop the Blue Code of Silence,'' "We're Looking for A Few More Good Cops''
and "Leadership Accountability''

Louise Robak, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union,
said there are 17 lawsuits filed against the city, or one for about every
10 officers in the department. She said if the ratio was the same in New
York City there would be 4,000 complaints. "If that happened in New York
City, the people in power would be calling for
change,'' Robak said. "Accountability starts at the top, so we hold the mayor
and police chief responsible for what is taking place.''

Vince Riggi said the city is going backward because people are fleeing to
live in other areas. "We can't have the police policing themselves because
that doesn't work,'' Riggi said. "We have to keep the pressure on to get
change so speak your mind and don't be intimidated.' 'Lauralynn Krobetzky,
who said she was a Union College graduate, agreed that police can't police
themselves. "This rally isn't anti-police, it's pro-police. If people could
trust the police you wouldn't have a rally like this.''

Earlier Tuesday, the Police Review Board Task Force agreed to hire the
Albany Law School Government Law Center for $15,000 to serve as the
facilitator for the nine-member group seeking improvements in methods of
reviewing cases of police misconduct.

Councilman Brian Stratton, task force chairman, said the group would meet
twice a week throughout June with the facilitator in hopes of coming up
with a recommendation by mid-July. Mayor Albert Jurczynski, a task force
member, said he had reservations about meeting twice a week instead of the
present once a week sessions because of his busy schedule. "I'll do the
best I can to attend. I'm not treating this frivolously,'' Jurczynski
said.Frank Maurizio, council Public Safety Committee, said originally the
City Council hoped the task force formed in mid-February would be able to
complete its work by the end of April.

"Some people are frustrated because the process is taking so long, but
hiring the facilitator puts us on the right track,'' Maurizio said. He said
whenever he picks up the paper in the morning he has a knot in his stomach
fearing another slap or kick at the police."We can't allow this to happen
any more,'' Maurizio said. "But we didn't get into this mess overnight so
we can't expect to get out of it overnight. We need a systematic approach
to solving the problems.''


NEWS LINKS

WINDPOWER - A New Crop for Farmers
http://tomepaine.com, http://awea.org

ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS. . . ."
Nancy Allen of the Maine Green Party, Maine Sunday Telegram, Sunday, June
3, 2001, full text available at www.commondreams.org/views01/0603-04.htm

EVENTS & RESOURCES

For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD's web calendar at: http://www.ictsd.org/html/calendar.htm .

Don't forget that the deadline for non-governmental organisations to register for attendance at the WTO's Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, is 2 July. .
     For further information and registration forms visit: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min01_e/min01_ngo_e.htm.

Coming Up This Week

18-19 June, Geneva, Switzerland: FEDRE FORUM INTERNATIONAL: "LA LIBERATION DU MARCHE DE L'ENERGIE ET LE DEVELOPPEMENT REGIONAL DURABLE". Avec le haute patronage de la Commission Economique des Nations Unies pour l'Europe, du Congres des Pouvoirs Locaux et Regionaux de l'Europe, de la Confederation Suisse et du Canton de Geneve.
    Pour plus d'information, veuillez prendre contact avec FEDRE, Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41-22) 807-1712; fax: 801-1718; email: info@fedre.org; Internet: http://www.fedre.org.

18-22 June, Paris, France: 45TH MEETING OF THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES (CITES) STANDING COMMITTEE.
    For further information contact: CITES Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41-22) 917-8139; fax: 797-3417; email: cites@unep.ch; Internet: http://www.cites.org/.

18-22 June, Havana, Cuba: THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERICAL FAIR. Entitled "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Fact or Dream, Ten Years After the Rio Summit," the major topics to be addressed include: environmental education, environmental management for sustainable development, environmental law and policy, economy and environment, biological diversity and protected areas, energy and sustainable development, and environmental health issues.
     For further information contact: Pam, Cuba Environmental Conference, tel: (415) 255- 7296, ext 231; email: pam@globalexchange.org; Internet: http://www.cubaciencia.cu/hosting/3ra_conv/index.htm.

18-23 June, Rome, Italy: 120TH SESSION OF THE UN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO) COUNCIL. The proposed agenda includes -- inter alia - - the report of the 24th Session of the Committee on Fisheries; the report of the 63rd Session of the Committee on Commodity Problems; the report of the 15th Session of the Committee on Forestry; the report of the 16th Session of the Committee on Agriculture; the report of the 27th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS); and Negotiations for the Revision of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources, in Harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
     For further information visit: http://www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/council/cl120/cl120-e.htm.

19-20 June, Luxemburg: EU AGRICULTURE COUNCIL MEETING. The 15 EU Ministers for Agriculture will convene to address issues such as BSE, animal by-products, and an action plan for organic food and farming.
    For further information visit: http://www.eu2001.se/eu2001/calendar/meetinginfo.asp?iCalendarID=204.

20-21 June, Chavannes-de-Bogis, Switzerland: UNCTAD PREPARATION OF ARAB COUNTRIES FOR 4TH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) meeting will consider proposals to be presented to the WTO by the Arab countries. The meeting will be organised around panel discussions on the following topics: WTO accession issues and problems arising from the integration of countries into the multilateral trading system; ways and means to facilitate the accession process for developing countries in view of the forthcoming Ministerial Conference; assessment of progress made in negotiations on agriculture and services, and issues relating to the implementation of existing agreements; and the preparation of Arab countries for the Qatar Conference.
     For further information contact: Said Guehria, Interregional Adviser for Arab Countries, Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, UNCTAD, Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41-22) 917-5708; email: said.guehria@unctad.org; or Erica Meltzer, Press Officer, UNCTAD; tel: (41-22) 907-5365/5828; fax: 907-0043; email: press@unctad.org; Internet: http://www.unctad.org.

21 June, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands: RESEARCH WORKSHOP ON CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY.
    For information and submission of abstracts, contact: Elaine White, ERP Environment, P.O. Box 75, Shipley, West Yorkshire, BD17 6EZ UK; tel: (44-1274) 530-408; fax: 530-409; email: elaine@erpenv.demon.co.uk.

22 June, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands: THIRD ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM: ACCOUNTABILITY TOWARDS CIVIL SOCIETY.
   For information and submission of abstracts, contact: Elaine White, ERP Environment, P.O. Box 75, Shipley, West Yorkshire, BD17 6EZ UK; tel: (44-1274) 530-408; fax: 530-409; email: elaine@erpenv.demon.co.uk.

23-24 June, Valencia, Venezuela: ANDEAN COMMUNITY 13TH ANDEAN PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL MEETING. The highest-level body of the Andean Integration System (AIS) meets to issue Guidelines about different spheres of Andean sub-regional integration. Organiser of the meeting is the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry - Pro Tempore Secretariat of the CAN; Internet: http://www.mre.gov.ve/.

26 June, Geneva, Switzerland: UNEP MEETING ON COMPLIANCE, ENFORCEMENT AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT IN MEAs AND THE WTO. The meeting, organised in collaboration with the WTO, will focus on concrete examples of where trade or WTO rules can enhance or inhibit compliance with and enforcement of MEAs, and on concrete examples of how the reliance on negotiation, conciliation and soft-law compliance mechanisms in MEAs have proven to be effective in MEA implementation. It will also develop input for discussions taking place on international environmental governance in the context of preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
     For further information contact: Hussein Abaza, UNEP; tel: (41-22) 917-8179; email: etu@unep.ch ; Internet: http://www.unep.ch/etu/etp/events/upcming/ceds.htm.

WTO EVENTS

18-22 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO TEXTILES MONITORING BODY.
    For further information contact: Luis Ople, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5374.

20 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COUNCIL ON TRADE-RELATED ASPECTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (TRIPs) - SPECIAL DISCUSSION ON TRIPs AND ACCESS TO MEDICINE.
     For further information contact: Peter Ungphakorn, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5412.

20 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY.
     For further information contact: Nuch Nazeer, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5393.

25 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO NGO BRIEFING ON TRIPs MEETING.
    For further information contact: Bernie Kuiten, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5676.

27-28 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT.
     For further information contact: Hans-Peter Werner, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5286.

28-29 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE.
    For further information contact: Peter Ungphakorn, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5412.

28-29 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE.
     For further information contact: Hans-Peter Werner, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5286.

6-7 July, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO SYMPOSIUM ON CRITICAL ISSUES CONFRONTING THE WORLD TRADING SYSTEM. The symposium is aimed at governments, non-governmental organisations, the media and members of the academic community and will focus on: Agriculture; TRIPs - Access to Essential Medicines; Trade and Environment; Services; and WTO & Civil Society.
    For more information contact: Bernie Kuiten, WTO Information and Media Relations Division; tel: (41-22) 739-5676; Internet: http://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/ngo_e/ngo_symp_2001_e.htm.

OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS

6-7 July, Brussels, Belgium: ACP-EU CONFERENCE ON THE PARTICIPATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN IMPLEMENTING THE COTONOU AGREEMENT. This meeting is organised by the forthcoming Belgian Presidency of the EU, the ACP Secretariat and the European Commission.
     For further information contact: Hegel GOUTIER, Press Officer, Brussels, Belgium; tel: (32-2) 743-0604; email: goutier@acpsec.org.

13 July - 10 August, Adelaide, Research Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences, Adelaide, South Australia: LIVE & ONLINE. This symposium will include an online conference and live series (a conference on 26-29 July and a symposium on globalising art on 4 August). Refereed clusters will include the following topics: (i) global economies; (ii) global culture; (iii) globalising art protest movements; (iv) local, regional, global dynamics international aid and human rights;(v) global ecologies: and, (vi) the www world administration (WTO, UN, World Bank). The conference will be hosted at: http://arts.adelaide.edu.au/ARCHSS/.
    Registration information online from 1 May 2001. for questions about the online or live series contact the ARCHSS administrative officer Judy Barlow; tel: (618) 8303-4817; fax: 8303-4882; email: judy.barlow@adelaide.edu.au; Internet: http://arts.adelaide.edu.au/ARCHSS/.

16-18 July, Geneva, Switzerland: UN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC) HIGH - LEVEL SEGMENT. Topic: Role Of The United Nations System In Supporting The Efforts Of African Countries To Achieve Sustainable Development. This theme provides an opportunity to harness the capacities of the UN system to address an issue central to international development co-operation: the socio-economic development of Africa. It is especially suitable for strengthening the dialogue between governments, international organisations and civil society and for engaging the business community in support of the objectives of the United Nations system.
     For further information visit: http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/dev_afr/index.htm.

18-20 July, Geneva, Switzerland: PREPARATORY MEETING OF THE WORLD CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM. The World Civil Society Forum seeks to strengthen international cooperation between civil society organisations (NGOs, indigenous peoples, etc.) as well as with international organisations. The Forum will consist of thematic working groups, working areas, and information and discussion sections. The preparatory meeting intends to bring together organisations that wish to participate in preparing for the Forum, organising the thematic working groups or sections, and establishing the steering committee for 2002.
     For further information contact: sziegler@mandint.org; Internet: http://www.mandint.org/forum.

23-24 July, Washington, USA: SEMINAR "LEVERAGING TRADE AND GLOBAL MARKET INTEGRATION FOR POVERTY REDUCTION" ON AGRICULTURAL TRADE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. The Agricultural Trade Project for WTO Capacity Building for Developing Countries will be holding a seminar bringing together a wide audience of practitioners, academics, government representatives, and international organizations to discuss the issues related to developing countries and the next round of agricultural negotiations in the WTO.
     For further information contact: Ms. Sanda L. Chao; tel: (202) 458-7399; fax: 522-1142; email: schao1@worldbank.org; Internet: http:// www.worldbank.org/agtrade.

RESOURCES

If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy for review by the BRIDGES staff to Hugo Cameron, hcameron@ictsd.ch. Submissions of publications to ICTSD's documentation centre would also be welcome (contact Marc Galvin, mgalvin@ictsd.ch).

WORLD COMMODITY SURVEY 2000-2001. Published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The study offers new information and statistics on markets, structures and innovations for more than 80 commodities; it explores recent world trends and developments that have an impact on commodity markets. In the view of UNCTAD, the world of commodities is in a state of fundamental mutation due to the end of economic clauses in international commodity agreements, with the disappearance of national commodity marketing boards and stabilisation bodies and with marketing chains becoming disorganised and populated by a large number of players without established track records.
    For further information contact: Olivier Matringe, UNCTAD, Geneva, Switzerland: tel: (+41-22) 917-5774; fax: 917-0509, email: olivier.matringe@unctad.org; or Alessandra Vellucci, tel: (+41-22) 907- 4641; fax: 907-0052, email: press@unctad.org. A copy can be obtained at the price of US$85.00 from United Nations Sales and Marketing of Publications, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland; tel. (+41-22) 917-2613, fax: 917-0027, email: unpubli@un.org.

"Slugfest over certification holds forest industry in its grip" in BUSINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 12 (5, 2001): 2-4. According to a new report from WWF International, the forest industry is close to achieving socially responsible and environmentally sound growth. While threats from fires, illegal logging, and bad practice are real, the article argues that deforestation is not being caused by the world's insatiable appetite for wood.

"Failure of the fund: rethinking the IMF response" in HARVARD INTERNATIONAL REVIEW 23 (2, 2001) 14-18, by Joseph E. Stiglitz. In the view of the author, the world is only now just emerging from the Asian financial crisis. Stiglitz argues that, while the US emerged from this event unscathed, it benefited from the crisis as plummeting commodity prices reduced domestic inflationary pressures.

FUELLING THE CLIMATE CRISIS: THE CONTINENTAL ENERGY PLAN. By Dermot Foley, published by the David Suzuki Foundation. The intention of the report is to outline how Canada's expanding fossil fuel production will add significant new greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. The study reveals that Canada's greenhouse gas emissions will rise 44 percent above targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol if the Government of Canada allows increases in Canadian oil and gas production to meet US President George Bush's Energy plan and the mounting energy demand in the US.
    A copy can be obtained for $CDN 10.00 from the David Suzuki Foundation, Suite 219, 2211 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6K 4S2; tel: (1-604) 732-4228; fax: 732-0752; (toll free) 1-800-453- 1533. For a free email copy of the full report contact by email gscott@davidsuzuki.org.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

NORTH-SOUTH UPDATE ON "THE DEMOCRATIC SENATE AND TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY." By Ambler Moss, 14 June 2001.
   The Update can be downloaded from the North-South Center's website at: http://www.miami.edu/nsc/pages/newsset.html.

MEASURES OF RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE IN SERVICES. Published by Productivity Commission - Australia. The two databases cover Measures of Restrictions on Trade in Services for economies in Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The two databases are: the TRADE RESTRICTIVENESS INDEXES DATABASE (which includes measures of restrictions (or government regulation) for accounting, architectural, banking, distribution, engineering, legal, maritime and telecommunications services for up to 136 economies) and the PRICE AND/OR COST MEASURES DATABASE (which includes price and cost effects or tax equivalents for banking, distribution, engineering and telecommunications services for up to 136 economies).
   These databases are available at: http://www.pc.gov.au/research/memoranda/servicesrestriction/index.html.

HØSBJØR WORKSHOP ON AFFORDABLE MEDICINES. PowerPoint presentations of the 8-11 April 2001 Høsbjør, Norway workshop on affordable medicines are available on the WTO's website at: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/hosbjor_presentations_e/hosb jor_presentations_e.htm, or see all the material on the workshop at: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/tn_hosbjor_e.htm. Downloadable also from the WHO website at: http://www.who.int/medicines/library/edm_general/who-wto- hosbjor/hos_sessions.html or see WHO's collection of material at: http://www.who.int/medicines/library/edm_general/who-wto-hosbjor/who- wto-hosbjor.html.

FELLOWSHIP AVAILABLE

UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY FELLOWSHIPS. The Institute of Advanced Studies of the United Nations University (UNU/IAS) is a multi-thematic, interdisciplinary research and training centre located in Tokyo, Japan. Its programmes are directed at pressing global issues of concern to the United Nations. Postdoctoral and PhD Fellowships are offered for a period of ten months. Postdoctoral candidates must have completed a PhD degree and PhD candidates must be at the advanced stage of their doctoral dissertation. Candidates' current research must be closely related to one of the current thematic areas of the institute a list of which is available at: http://www.ias.unu.edu/postgrad_ed_prog/ias_postgraduate.asp). Fellows will carry out their research in Tokyo under the supervision of institute faculty members and/or affiliated scholars in Japan. Language proficiency in English is essential. Applicants from developing countries and women are particularly encouraged to apply. Fellowships commence in October 2001. Application deadline is 30 June 2001.
    Further information on the fellowships and application forms can be obtained by contacting: phdfellowship@ias.unu.edu or by writing to: Secretary, Postdoctoral and Ph.D. Fellowship Programme, United Nations University/Institute of Advanced Studies, 5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150, Japan; fax: +81-3-5467-2324.

Table of Contents                  

- US, EU Leaders Meet On New Round, Climate Change, Sustainable Development
- Rapprochement Elusive In Agriculture, Services Doha Prep
- IPRs For Development Take Centre Stage At WTO
- Proposed EC GSP Scheme Includes Labour and Environment Incentives
- S. Africa Urges Sub-Region To Begin Preparing Agenda For Doha
- Fisheries: EU Initiates Policy Reform; Sturgeon Protection
- Details Released On China-US WTO Accession Agreement
- In Brief
- WTO In Brief
- Events & Resources

US, EU LEADERS MEET ON NEW ROUND, CLIMATE CHANGE, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In summit sessions marked by violent street protests, the EU and the US met on 14 June in Gothenburg, Sweden, followed by a 15-16 June meeting of EU leaders for the Council of EU Heads of State. While the US and EU failed to resolve their differences over climate change, they did highlight their common stance regarding the need to work together to promote the launch of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations. The EU Council, inter alia, adopted Europe's first-ever Sustainable Development Strategy.

EU, US agree on need for new WTO round

According to European Commission President Romano Prodi, the EU and the US agreed on a common approach "for an ambitious and inclusive WTO Round". Concerning inclusiveness, the Summit Conclusions stressed that a new round must "equally address the needs and priorities of developing countries, demonstrate that the trading system can respond to the concerns of civil society, and promote sustainable development." The two countries added that they would reinforce and improve their provision of technical assistance for developing countries "so as to aid both their implementation of WTO agreements and help them integrate more fully into the trading system, including the dispute settlement mechanism."

However, while Swedish Prime Minister and Summit Chair Göran Persson said the Conclusions sent "a clear signal" that a round was necessary to revive global economic growth, officials said the summit achieved no substantive breakthroughs on the issue of a new round.

Climate divisive

EU leaders and US President George W. Bush did not bridge the wide gap on their positions on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol -- the international instrument addressing this issue. "We agreed to disagree on substance," Persson ironically summarised the differing stances at a press conference. "The European Union will stick to the Kyoto Protocol and go for a ratification process," he added.

For his part, Bush during the summit repeated his objections to the Protocol, namely that it exempts developing countries such as India and China and that its goals are not realistic. "But that doesn't mean we can't work together," Bush added.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth strongly criticised the US stance. "President Bush's decision to ignore scientific warnings and world opinion of global climate change is a total disgrace. It means business as usual for the planet's biggest polluter," said Kate Hampton, Friends of the Earth Climate Change coordinator.

In related developments, Dutch Environment Minister and Chair of the ongoing climate change negotiations Jan Pronk earlier this month issued a coherent proposal to finalise the Kyoto Protocol. The paper could possibly form the basis for world agreement on how to implement the Protocol even without the US. Key political elements in the text include concessions to Japan regarding carbon sinks and to Russia and central and eastern European countries regarding payments into a proposed "adaptation fund".

Talks on the Kyoto Protocol will resume in Bonn next month. The battle promises to be tough, in particular around continued developing country concerns over the limited scale of financial assistance offered by the industrialised world.

EU sustainable development strategy short of original goal

Following the US-EU summit, European Heads of State met in Gothenburg on 15-16 June for the annual summit of the European Council, where, in accordance with its mandate, the Council issued "political guidance" for the EU.

While the EU adopted its first ever Sustainable Development Strategy at the summit meeting, the version finally agreed upon fell short of the original goal of Sweden (which currently presides over the EU) and the European Commission to set precise environmental targets.

The Strategy was designed to form the environmental dimension of the Lisbon agreement, which contains social and economic policy strategies to make the EU become the most competitive region in the world by 2010.

The paper submitted for adoption proposed to focus the sustainability strategy on four of the seven key areas identified by the Commission: climate change, public health, transport congestion and natural resource depletion. But it contained no dates or quantitative policy targets, and the long series of specific actions proposed by the Commission were not taken up by the Council.

"What you'll see is a text which on overall objectives and principles is ok, but which is short on actions. On that you'll find very, very, very little," a senior Commission official said Friday.

As it stands, the strategy calls on member states to develop national sustainability plans. Major EU policy will include sustainability impact assessments, and EU institutions will improve internal policy coordination between different sectors. Progress will be reviewed annually.

The leaders declared that, "clear and stable objectives for sustainable development will present significant economic opportunities." They also anticipated that the new emphasis on sustainability will "unleash a new wave" of technological innovation and investment, generating growth and employment.

The EU's Sustainable Development Strategy is a part of the region's preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio + 10), scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002. The EU is expected to seek to achieve a "global deal" on sustainable development at the Summit.


    "Conclusions of the EU/US Summit," 14 June 2001; "Bush and EU pledge to launch a new trade round," FT, 15 June 2001.
    "Pronk Injects New Life into Kyoto Protocol," ENS, 12 June 2001;
    "Accord a Goteborg pour relancer les negotiations commerciales multilaterales," LE MONDE, 16 June 2001;
    "Bush and Allies Split on Climate," IHT, 15 June 2001;
    "Presidency Conclusions," 15-16 June 2001;
    "EU agrees to speed up enlargement 'momentum'," FT, 17 June 2001;
    "Europe Incorporates Sustainable Development Strategy," ENS, 18 June 2001;
    "EU Sustainability Plan Heading for a Fall," ENS, 15 June 2001;
    "Climate Divisive at Trans-Atlantic Summit," ENS, 14 June 2001.


RAPPROCHEMENT ELUSIVE IN AGRICULTURE, SERVICES DOHA PREP

At a 15 June meeting of the WTO General Council (GC) on preparations for the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, on 9-13 November, Members addressed ongoing negotiations in agriculture and services as well as various mandated reviews including the dispute settlement understanding and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). The meeting was convened to follow up an 18 May session where Members began discussions on GC Chair Stuart Harbinson's third bullet point (ongoing negotiations/reviews) of his six-point Doha preparation checklist (see BRIDGES Weekly, 22 May 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/22-05-01/story2.htm).

Harbinson had urged delegates to keep from re-stating their well-known positions and engage constructively in the process, but trade sources say that Members who took the floor on 15 June did not heed this advice and remained entrenched in their traditional stances. The Chair is in the process of building consensus around a variety of issue-areas in an attempt to forge a draft Ministerial Declaration that would emerge from Doha.

Agriculture

Virtually all Members agreed that agriculture should feature in the Doha Ministerial Declaration. There was continuing disagreement, however, as to whether there was a need for a fresh negotiating mandate. Some Members who favour restraints on agricultural liberalisation -- including the EC, Japan, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe (on behalf of the African Group) -- said that a new mandate was not necessary, arguing that Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture provided a good basis for the ongoing negotiations. This view was not shared by a number of countries that are part of the Cairns group of agriculture-exporting countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Australia. They argued that the Doha Declaration should provide further impetus to the agriculture negotiations. Some Cairns group members said that if a new round of negotiations were to be launched at Doha, it was imperative that the mandate in Article 20 be broadened with a view to achieving free and fair trade in agricultural products. For its part, the US said that Members cannot have high ambitions for launching a new round while concurrently maintaining low expectations for agriculture.

Services

On services, Members commended the establishment of the Guidelines and Procedures for Negotiations, which were agreed to at the end of March (see BRIDGES Weekly, 3 April 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/03- 04-01/story1.htm). While Members are still finding it difficult to identify what should be put on the Doha Declaration, it was suggested that it would be a good idea for Ministers to reaffirm the importance of the services Guidelines. The EC proposed the inclusion of a standstill provision and benchmark dates. Developing country Members said that appropriate flexibility should feature in all aspects of the services negotiations, and that credit should be given for autonomous liberalisation measures adopted by them. Pakistan stated that specific mention should be made of the relevant provisions in the Negotiating Guidelines (Articles 4 and 19) relating to developing countries.

Unlike Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, most delegates felt that Article 19 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) (negotiations on specific commitments) and the recently-agreed Guidelines were adequate with respect to services negotiations. Some Members suggested, however, that it was important to complete work on GATS rules before beginning market access negotiations. A number of Members called for the 15 March 2002 deadline for the completion of work on emergency safeguards to be respected (see BRIDGES Weekly, 12 June 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/12-16-01/story5.htm).

Other Reviews

In addition to the built-in agenda of agriculture and services, delegates also addressed the Dispute Settlement Understanding, Articles 24.2 and 27.3(b) of the TRIPs Agreement and the interface between the TRIPs and public health. Trade sources indicate that differences remained around the issue of geographical indications. On one side, the EC, Bulgaria, Hungary, Switzerland, India, Pakistan and others pushed to extend additional geographical indicator protection to products other than wines and spirits. On the other side, Australia, Japan and New Zealand argued that no mandate existed for such an exercise and that extending additional protection to other products could undermine the benefits achieved thus far.

On the issue of reviews of other agreements, a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, argued that while other reviews were important, they should not be put on the same level as mandated negotiations in agriculture and services. This was strongly opposed by a group of countries developing countries, including India and Pakistan, who were concerned that implementation concerns that included reviews of agreements would be downplayed if the mandated negotiations on agriculture and services were put at a higher priority than reviews.

In a sum-up at the end of the meeting, Chairman Harbinson indicated that there was a clear need to come back to the checklist item of ongoing negotiations/reviews. No dates were specified as BRIDGES Weekly went to press, though sources say the process is now becoming strapped for time.

On 25 June, WTO General Council (GC) Chairman Stuart Harbinson will meet with senior officials from WTO Members' capitals on the Doha preparations in an attempt to inject higher political pressure into the process.

ICTSD Internal Files.

IPRS FOR DEVELOPMENT TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT WTO

At a forthcoming 18-22 June meeting of the WTO Council for Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), the WTO will set aside one day for debating issues related to intellectual property rights (IPRs) and access to essential drugs. The discussions come in the wake of a recently announced initiative by the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Rights Organization (WIPO) to "help Least- developed Countries (LDCs) maximise the benefits of IP protection".

IPRs and access to medicines

Following a request by the African Group at the last TRIPs Council meeting in April, the Council will spend one day on 20 June to discuss issues related to 'Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines' (see BRIDGES Weekly, 10 April 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/10-04- 01/story1.htm). The discussion will be held in a formal session and on the record to allow for the presence of representatives of intergovernmental organisation observers. So far, only two papers have been submitted for this agenda item, but more submissions are expected, a WTO official said. The WTO Secretariat has prepared an information paper listing meetings relevant to intellectual property and access to medicines in which the Secretariat has been involved over the past two years; issues that were covered in the meetings; and where additional information can be found.

In its communication to the Council (IP/C/W/280; available on the WTO website), the European Communities (EC) examine the relationship between the provisions of the TRIPs Agreement and access to medicines. The submission outlines recent EC initiatives in this area, including the European Commission's Programme of Action -- endorsed on 14 May -- targeted at combating the major communicable diseases (see http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/sector/social/health_en.htm). Regarding the relevance of intellectual property, the EC recognises the importance of IPRs as a stimulus for creativity and innovation, but also acknowledges recent criticisms that the TRIPs Agreement stands in the way of "developing countries' efforts to implement an effective public health policy". The EC expresses willingness "to engage in a positive manner in discussion", in particular regarding, though not limited to, issues addressed in the submission, including compulsory licensing (Art. 31, i.e. governments can allow the use of a patent without the consent of the patent-holder in certain cases), exceptions to patent rights (Art. 30) and protection of undisclosed information (Art. 39.3).

The WTO has recently come under strong criticism for allegedly impeding developing countries' access to cheap drugs by protecting pharmaceutical patents (see BRIDGES Weekly, 20 February 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/story5.20-02-01.htm). International outcry has focused in particular on a court case brought by a group of pharmaceutical companies against the South African government over a law that would allow the country to import cheaper drugs allegedly in violation of patent rights (see BRIDGES Weekly, 24 April 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/24-04-01/story2.htm). After the case was eventually withdrawn, attention then shifted to an ongoing US- Brazil dispute over Brazil's IPR regime, which Brazil claims is an integral component of its comprehensive anti-HIV/AIDS strategy (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 May 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/08-05- 01/story5.htm).

Derestricted submissions to the TRIPs Council are available at: http://docsonline.wto.org/. Additional EU documents on IPRs and access to medicines can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/miti/intell/legis.htm.

WIPO/WTO initiative for LDCs

On 14 June, WTO and WIPO launched a joint initiative to support developing countries, in particular LDCs, in their efforts to effectively use IP as a tool for technological advancement, economic growth and wealth creation. In a joint communication, WTO Director- General Mike Moore and WIPO Director-General Kamil Idris underlined their organisations' commitment to help LDCs comply with the TRIPs Agreement on time and to use the IP system to promote their development. The initiative will build on existing cooperation, and on each organisation's own technical assistance programmes. Technical assistance will be provided for preparing legislation, training, institution-building, modernising IP systems and enforcement. All LDCs will be eligible under the initiative.

ICTSD Internal Files.

PROPOSED EC GSP SCHEME INCLUDES LABOUR AND ENVIRONMENT INCENTIVES

On 12 June, the European Commission agreed to redefine its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) in an effort to streamline its administration and better assign GSP benefits to developing countries most in need. The new regulation also includes a system of tariff- related incentives designed to encourage developing country exporters to incorporate core labour and environmental standards into production processes.

According to European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, the rationale for the revision is threefold: (i) to offset the erosion of preferences resulting from declining average levels; (ii) to simplify the administration of the GSP; and (iii) to incorporate graduation for competitive economies. Subject to European Parliamentary approval, the regulation will be in effect from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2004.

ELEMENTS OF THE NEW GSP SCHEME

In the first instance, the proposed GSP will reduce the number of product classifications from four to two: sensitive and non-sensitive products. According to the EC, doing so will minimise discrepancies in the current preference system, rendering it more equitable.

In keeping with the equity consideration, the proposed regulation also includes a new programme for graduating competitive countries out of the GSP. In cases where specified countries are shown to have improved their competitiveness over the span of three years, these countries will be removed from the list of GSP beneficiaries, thus creating export opportunities for less developed countries. Here, a country will be considered to have achieved a qualifying level of competitiveness if it is listed as a high-income country by the World Bank and if it attains a level of development as specified by the regulation's internal development index.

LABOUR AND ENVIRONMENT INCENTIVES

The revised programme also includes tariff incentives designed to reward developing country producers that maintain certain environmental and labour standards.

On the question of labour, to be eligible for tariff concessions, beneficiaries of the arrangement would have to be in compliance with all International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions that contain core labour standards. Conversely, those committing "serious and systematic" violations of the ILO standards would risk losing their GSP status.

On the question of environment, the regulation stipulates that incentive arrangements will be granted to qualifying developing countries "which effectively apply domestic legislation incorporating the substance of internationally acknowledged standards and guidelines concerning sustainable forest management (SFM)." Here, the regulation does not specify precisely which certification standards will qualify, given that so many such certification systems are either actively in use or in the development stage. But the regulation does stipulate that certification standards used in the scheme must be "credible". However, in the regulation's non-binding 'explanatory memorandum', the International Tropical Timber Organisation is recognised as a possible SFM standard, though this does not preclude other certification systems from consideration.

DRUG SUBSTITUTION CLAUSE

In addition to these arrangements, the proposed GSP scheme extends existing tariff concessions on industrial and agricultural products from middle-income Andean and Latin American economies suffering from chronic drug production and domestic corruption. Namely, these are Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. The purpose of this provision is to encourage (a) economic diversification away from drug production and (b) inflows of European foreign direct investment. Coupled to this provision is a stipulation allowing the Commission to monitor the labour and environmental practices ongoing in these countries and to incorporate these evaluations into future GSP review processes.

If approved, various aspects of the EU's revised GSP would apply to various different developing and Least-Developed countries. The specifications for its application can be found in the EC's "Proposal for Council Regulation applying a scheme of tariff preferences for the period 1 January 2002 - 31 December 2004", available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/pdf/com2001_293_en.pdf.

  "Europe Proposes Trade Advantages For Green Nations," ENS, 14 June 2001;
  "European Commission Adopts New Generalised Scheme Of Tariff Preferences Regulation To Foster Sustainable Development," EC PRESS RELEASE, 12 June 2001;
  "The Community 2002-2004 GSP: An Instrument of Sustainable Development," SPEECH BY PASCAL LAMY, 12 June 2001.






S. AFRICA URGES SUB-REGION TO BEGIN PREPARING AGENDA FOR DOHA

The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Eleventh Southern Africa Economic Summit, "Acting on Realities, Confronting Perceptions" from 6-8 June in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, called on African leadership to identify actionable outcomes in the areas of health (HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis); bridging the digital divide; governance and democracy; and enhancing regional economic integration. The meeting resulted in a commitment from among participant African heads of state and top business executives to a plan of action involving both business and political organisations and a streamlined Southern African Development Community (SADC).

REGIONAL INTEGRATION

On Southern Africa's regional integration initiatives, the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO, J. Denis Bélisle, pointed out that favourable arrangements would need to be complemented by consistently putting the sub-region's business capacities to work. According to Bélisle, additional requirements for lasting benefits and for ensuring that the sub-region emerges from the next potential WTO round in better export shape are: refining regional and national export strategies on the basis of world demand for imported goods, and harnessing public and private sector partnerships around export strategies.

MULTILATERAL TRADE

Regarding international trade negotiations, strong warnings came from the South African Minister of Trade and Industry, Alec Erwin, that Southern Africa could not risk not participating in the coming round of WTO talks in Doha. He urged countries to build ties with other countries such as Brazil, India and Egypt to ensure that appropriate weight is given to developing country needs at Doha as expressed in their combined agendas. In the plenary session on "The New Trade Round - Leveraging International Trade Agreements", the Chairman of the South African Tongaat-Hulett Group described Africa's GDP growth at only 3-4 percent in 2001. He argued that increases in Africa's GDP growth through exports would depend on access to world markets, these in turn being dependent on countries of the sub-region getting the best possible results from a potential WTO multilateral round of talks.

INVESTMENT

In the area of investment, international business leaders described political stability, appropriate macroeconomic policies, returns on investment, large integrated growing markets, sound infrastructure, and healthy and skilled populations as among specific criteria used by foreign investors in making new investments. They argued that tardy or non-existent foreign direct investment could not alone be accounted for by the effectiveness of enabling financial, legal and political regimes, already largely put in place.

Building towards a Heads of State meeting in August 2001, a South African strategy group will prepare a report and work with the Southern African task force of business leaders. The recommendations of the report would be delivered by a delegation put together in conjunction with the SADC and focusing on the following areas: (i) the 'Millennium Africa Recovery Plan' (MAP); (ii) trade (stressing Africa's right to fair access to markets and an early WTO Ministerial Conference); (iii) regional capacity; (iv) sound macroeconomic policies; (v) health and poverty; (vi) communication; and, (vii) replacing wrong perceptions with realities. The MAP is expected to go beyond providing commitment to democracy, good governance and conflict resolution; it is expected to include a charter of principles with measurable criteria, and a list of those able to meet these.

Participating heads of state in the Summit included the presidents of South Africa, Ghana, Botswana and Mozambique. Ministers from fourteen SADC countries also participated. Along with participating academics from business schools in the sub-region, the perspective of twenty non- governmental organisations involved in health and technology was integrated into the programme of the summit.

Sources: World Economic Forum Press Releases (23 May - 8 June 2001) and Programme of the Southern
Africa Economic Summit 2001.

FISHERIES: EU INITIATES POLICY REFORM; STURGEON PROTECTION

EU discusses new Common Fisheries Policy

The EU's 15 fisheries ministers met in Luxemburg on 18 June to debate the European Commission's Green Paper on the EU's new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP; available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/policy_en.htm), released at a public hearing on 5-7 June (see BRIDGES Weekly, 12 June 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/story4.12-06-01.htm).

In particular, the Council discussed the main issues addressed in the Green Paper, including: (i) strengthening and improving conservation policy; (ii) promoting the environmental dimension of the CFP; (iii) monitoring, control and enforcement; (iv) strengthening the social and economic dimension of the CFP; (v) external relations; (vi) Mediterranean fisheries; and (vii) research and scientific advice. The matter will be taken forward by the forthcoming EU Belgian Presidency, commencing 1 July.

In addition to recommendations for CFP reform, the Fisheries Council adopted a plan on the issue of fisheries-related biodiversity. In the plan, the Council concluded that "while taking into account socio- economic aspects," it would "further consider measures aimed at safeguarding biodiversity and diminishing adverse environmental impacts caused by fisheries and aquaculture" during the development of the new CFP. In the end, the Council highlighted the "importance of a significant reduction in fishing pressure" in order to create an equilibrium between fishing effort and available resources.

To that effect, the Ministers requested the European Commission to "give highest priority to the protection and sustainable use of marine fish stocks" by developing and applying long term management plans for all relevant EU stocks within the next three years". In addition, the Fisheries Council set "as a goal" to implement the precautionary principle for both target and non-target species, with priority given to the most sensitive species. The public debate initiated by the Commission's Green Paper will continue until 30 September. The new EU CFP will enter into force on 1 January 2003.

Caspian states threatened with strict restrictions in sturgeon trade

At its 18-22 June meeting in Paris, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Standing Committee will decide, inter alia, whether the Caspian range states that in the view of CITES manage sturgeon unsustainably -- i.e. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan -- must reduce their catch and export quotas by 80 percent. The Standing Committee will also consider whether to recommend that all 154 CITES members suspend trade in certain sturgeon and sturgeon products with these countries unless the latter have made special commitments to undertake appropriate sturgeon stock assessments; to develop a science- based stock monitoring system; and to take concrete actions to prevent illegal sturgeon trade. A final decision on these issues is scheduled for 21 June.

In preparation for the Paris meeting, the four Caspian states including Iran met on 12-13 June with the CITES Secretariat in Geneva at the request of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to draft a joint statement specifying detailed commitments to be presented in Paris (see BRIDGES Weekly, 12 June 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/story4.12-06-01.htm). The statement was also meant to satisfy the Standing Committee's requirements that immediate steps be taken for protecting Caspian sturgeon stocks.

One CITES representative said the meeting was "unexpectedly a very successful one" resulting in a draft 13 June Statement of the Caspian States Regarding Cooperation in Sturgeon Conservation and Sustainable Use. The statement contains a detailed list of actions to be taken including: an implementation time frame; concluding a multilateral Caspian Sea Agreement; implementing a co-management plan for sturgeon fisheries; conducting a stock assessment; participating in a caviar labelling system; and combating illicit trade in sturgeons and sturgeon products.

Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan convened earlier in the week in an attempt to head off the ban.  In a statement, they pledged to upgrade their management of sturgeon resources and get tougher on illegal trade.  But CITES scientists recommend that even if these countries enact reforms, their annual quotas should be cut by 80 percent.

Since 1998, the international trade in all species of sturgeon has been regulated under CITES due to concerns over the impacts of unsustainable harvesting and illegal trade on wild sturgeon populations. Since the June 1997 Resolution Conf.10.12, the CITES Animals Committee has included sturgeon in its Review of Significant Trade which contains mechanisms for remedial action in cases of non-compliance with CITES provisions.

   "Caspian States Oppose Caviar Ban," FT, 15 June 2001;
   ICTSD Internal Files.

DETAILS RELEASED ON CHINA-US WTO ACCESSION AGREEMENT

On 12 June, the US and China agreed to the terms of China's WTO accession. The deal, expected to be ratified by China's People's Congress later this week, resolves the long-standing trade impasse between the two countries in the areas of agriculture, insurance and trading rights, thereby refocusing China's bid to join the WTO (see BRIDGES Weekly, 29 May 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/12-06- 01/story1.htm). While some particulars of the deal were released this past week by the US, full details of the agreement will be forthcoming pending Chinese ratification.

AGRICULTURE

On agriculture, the main impediment to China's WTO accession has for several months been disagreement with the US over its access to the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). Article 6 of the AoA stipulates in part the amount of trade-distorting subsidies that countries are permitted to use in support of domestic agriculture. The US-China impasse was however resolved last week when Beijing and Washington reached a compromise deal on domestic subsidy use in China.

Under the deal, China will be permitted a "de minimis" level of domestic support -- an exemption from further reduction commitments -- no greater than 8.5 percent of the total value of China's domestic agriculture production. Under Article 6 of the AoA, developing countries are permitted a de minimis of 10 percent, while developed countries receive a 5 percent de minimis (see BRIDGES Weekly, 29 May 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/29- 05-01/story5.htm).

China also agreed to bind its Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS) at zero, which means the only domestic agriculture subsidies China will be entitled to are those specified by its de minimis commitment. AMS is the total value of a country's domestic agriculture subsidies subject to reduction commitments under the Uruguay Round. Currently, 30 WTO Members have taken AMS reduction commitments.

Agreeing to set its AMS at zero also means that China will not be permitted access to AoA Article 6.2, which grants developing countries unlimited exemption for support programmes to low-income and resource- poor farmers. Instead, China will have to subject these subsidies to its 8.5 de minimis cap. Furthermore, China has committed to forego all export subsidies for agriculture.

According to trade sources, China will not claim any developing country provisions under the AoA. However, Beijing continues to argue that it will not accede to the WTO as a developed country, rejecting definitions that imply that China is not a developing country. The agriculture compromise does not clarify how China should be dealt with in a new agriculture agreement, particularly if such an agreement specifies special and differential treatment for developing countries.

INSURANCE

Under present Chinese law, the ability of foreign insurers to write "large scale commercial risk" policies worth less than $US 120,000 is restricted. However, China and the US renegotiated this provision which will now allow foreign-owned insurers to offer policies worth more than $US 50,000 within three years. In addition, China also agreed to a five-year phase-out of a requirement stipulating that 20 percent of all non-life, health and personal accident policies be reinsured by state-owned China Reinsurance Company.

DISTRIBUTION

On the question of retail distribution, the US obtained a more favourable definition of "chain store" than that which currently exists under Chinese law. Under the new agreement, US companies will now be permitted to establish up to thirty 100 percent foreign owned multi- brand multi-good retail stores, whereas wholly owned single-brand operations such as automobile dealers and industrial suppliers will face even fewer restrictions.

TRADING RIGHTS

On trading rights, the US-China deal ensures that both foreign-owned importers located in China and foreign companies exporting into China will be permitted trading rights. Concerning foreign-owned enterprises, China will phase in trading rights over a three-year period. Trading rights will be subsequently granted to minority foreign-owned joint ventures, to majority foreign-invested and to wholly foreign-owned enterprises. In order to enhance the trading rights of foreign enterprises without a presence in China -- those already enjoying national treatment -- the US obtained new commitments that limit the range of requirements that China can impose as a condition on obtaining trading rights.

The WTO Working Party on the accession of China is currently scheduled to meet on 4 July. China's major trading partners -- including Mexico, the US and the EC -- are expected to use the meeting to settle their remaining differences and to urge the conclusion of substantive talks for China's accession to the WTO.


   "USTR Details US-China Consensus on China's WTO accession," OFFICE OF USTR, 14 June 2001;
   "More Details on US-China WTO Deal," WASHINGTON TRADE DAILY, 13 June 2001;
   "US, China Settle Outstanding Problems for WTO Accession," INSIDE US TRADE, 15 June 2001.






IN BRIEF

ARGENTINA, BRAZIL TO BOOST MERCOSUR'S COMPETITIVENESS WITH TARIFF REFORMS. Brazil and Argentina on 13 June announced that they would renegotiate South American trade bloc Mercosur's common external tariff policies to make the member states' economies more competitive. After talks with Brazilian Finance Minister Malan, Argentina's Economy Minister Cavallo expressed satisfaction with "the signs of reinvigoration shown by Mercosur" that in the future "can make our joint negotiating power felt". With Argentina's prolonged recession and Brazil's devaluation of its real in early 1999 in mind, Cavallo has recently attacked the common tariff policy of Mercosur that may prejudice the competitiveness of Argentine products. He indicated that Argentina might enter free trade negotiations with the US on its own and accused Brazil of attempting to force a devaluation of Argentina's peso. In April, Cavallo had scrapped the capital goods tariff of 14 percent and doubled import duties on consumer goods to 35 percent, which Brazil reluctantly accepted to the extent that they were temporary measures. Brazil is now prepared to support an Argentine proposal to rethink the bloc's common external tariffs. Mercosur's members are: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and its associate members are Bolivia and Chile.
   "Brazil and Argentina to Renegotiate Mercosur Tariff Policy," FINANCIAL TIMES, 13 June 2001.

FDI INTO DEVELOPING ASIA HITS RECORD HIGH. Preliminary estimates released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 12 June reported that foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing Asia reached a record level of $US 141bn in 2000, a 44 percent increase from 1999. The boom primarily resulted from an unprecedented three-fold jump from $US 23bn to $US 64bn of FDI into Hong Kong, China, partly attributable to the positive development of China's WTO accession negotiations, according to Masataka Fujita of UNCTAD's Investment Trends Division. The estimates also show that cross-border mergers and acquisitions declined while investment slowly resumed its growth. UNCTAD will release the "World Investment Report 2001" in September with further analyses of the estimates and details at country, regional and international levels.
   "FDI into developing Asia hits record high," UNCTAD PRESS RELEASE, 12 June 2001
   "WTO bid fuels boom in direct investment," SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 14 June 2001.

THAILAND CALLS FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN ASIA. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called on 12 June for an economic rethink by Asian countries to end their dependence on export-led growth that exploits cheap labour and indiscriminate imitation of developed countries. In a meeting of the Asian Development Forum, he called for a re-examination of the traditional remedies to economic crisis that merely refinance existing foreign debts temporarily, and the over- dependence on counter-cyclical stimulus measures that hed said are costly and detrimental to investors' confidence. In addition, he stressed the importance of strengthening economic fundamentals. Mr. Thaksin's government has been criticised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its increase in interest rates that may risk Thailand's economic growth.
   "Thaksin calls for economic rethink," FINANCIAL TIMES, 13 June 2001.

METALCLAD AND MEXICO CLOSE TO SETTLEMENT. Regarding the ongoing dispute under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Metalclad Corp. and Mexico, the US-based company said on 13 June that Mexico had offered to pay a sum of $US 15.6m plus $US 2,559 per day dating from 1 June 2001. Metalclad said that the definitive terms of the settlement agreement were still being negotiated, and that the settlement would only be considered binding when payment had occurred. Last month, Mexico appealed against an order of the British Columbia Court of Appeals to pay Metalclad damages for blocking construction of a toxic waste processing plant in a northern Mexican community (see BRIDGES Weekly, 29 May 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/29-05-01/inbrief.htm).
    "Metalclad says Mexico offers NAFTA a pay settlement," REUTERS, 13 June 2000.

WTO IN BRIEF

SHRIMP-TURTLE: WTO PANEL ALLOWS US TO UPHOLD IMPORT BAN. A WTO compliance panel in the shrimp-turtle dispute between the US and Malaysia -- re-established under Article 21.5 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) to assess whether the US had complied with the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)'s 6 November 1998 recommendations -- made public its 16 May report last week. In the report, the panel held that the US' continuation of the import ban on shrimp and shrimp products was justified under Article XX(g) of the GATT (see BRIDGES Weekly, 22 May 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/22-05-01/story6.htm). By doing so, the panel rebutted Malaysia's allegation that the US had failed to comply with the recommendations and rulings of the DSB. The pnel highlighted both the good faith effort the US had made in order to conclude a regional sea turtle protection agreement, and the increased flexibility of the US' revised guidelines for the approval of foreign turtle protection schemes. However, the panel stressed that "the obligation borne by the US [to seek the conclusion of a sea turtle protection agreement] is a continuing one", so that the US is only "provisionally entitled to apply the implementing measure, which may be subject to further control under Article 21.5 of the DSU." The complete panel report is available at: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/58rw_e.pdf. For background information on this dispute, see ICTSD's Executive Summary at: http://www.ictsd.org/Englihs/ExeSumm1.pdf.

WTO INVESTMENT WORKING GROUP CONVENES ON M&As, TECH TRANSFER, INCENTIVES. Meeting from 13-14 June, the WTO Working Group on Trade and Investment continued its mandate to assess the relationship between trade and investment. On substance, the Working Group examined four general themes: a note from the WTO Secretariat on balance of payment implications of mergers and acquisitions (WT/WGTI/W/103 -- available on the WTO website); a new position piece from India on the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology transfer; investment incentives; and a new submission from the EC on technical assistance and capacity building India's submission notes that the WTO Membership does not completely appreciate the complex relationship between FDI and technology transfer and should therefore assess this linkage more fully. On the question of investment incentives, several countries, including Singapore and the US, argued that the Working Group was an inappropriate forum for discussing the incentive issue. In contrast, Hong Kong-China, Norway and Mexico argued that due to the many problems associated with investment incentives, they remain a very important issue and should continue to be discussed inside the Working Group. Trade officials emphasised that work carried out under the Working Group's mandate is separate from the General Council's preparatory process for the Doha Ministerial in which the topic of investment is also being discussed.
  ICTSD Internal Files.

WTO LINKS E-COMMERCE TO DEVELOPMENT. In a report last week on the WTO programme on e-commerce, WTO Director-General Mike Moore highlighted the development dimension of e-commerce. While the relevant rules for e- commerce continue to be widely debated by WTO's Members, Moore's report says that e-commerce should be covered by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as a channel for retailing and wholesaling goods and services, or as a means of delivery of services in the form of digitised information. According to Moore, the WTO's work programme seeks to ensure that developing countries are not marginalised by a digital divide, which requires the liberalisation of trade on technological hardware and telecoms services, together with governmental or private initiatives to train personnel. In the run-up to a WTO General Council Meeting on Electronic Commerce held on 15 June, General Council Chairman Stuart Harbinson urged WTO Members to clarify their positions on cross-cutting issues relevant to e-commerce, including development-related ones such as participation of developing countries in e-commerce, access to infrastructure and technology, and market access for developing countries.
   "Electronic Commerce and Development," "US Pressures in WTO on E-Commerce", WASHINGTON TRADE DAILY, 13 June 2001; ICTSD Internal Files.






------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest© is published by the
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
(ICTSD), http://www.ictsd.org, with technical support from
the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
Contributors to this issue are Andrew Baldwin, Heike
Baumuller, Matteo Rizzolli, Alex Werth and Caroline Wiman.
This edition of BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest was edited
by Hugo Cameron, hcameron@ictsd.ch. Managing Editor is
Andrew Crosby, acrosby@ictsd.ch. The Director is Ricardo
Melendez-Ortiz, rmelendez@ictsd.ch. ICTSD is an
independent, not-for-profit organisation based at: 13, ch.
des Anemones, 1219 Geneva, Switzerland, tel: (41-22) 917-
8492; fax: 917-8093. Excerpts from BRIDGES Weekly Trade
News Digest may be used in other publications with
appropriate citation. Comments and suggestions are welcomed
and should be directed to the Editor or the Director.
____________________________________________________________
To subscribe to WALL-List send a blank email to:
mailto:wall-list-subscribe@igc.topica.com
Complaints?  Comments?  Need HELP!?  Send mailto:owner-wall-list@bigfoot.com

Rainforest Action Network - Monthly Email Newsletter
June 2001

Welcome!  Thank you for being a partner in Rainforest Action Network's
campaigns.  Read on to get the latest news and learn how you can help
save the world's rainforests.

In this issue:

1.) U'wa Tour of Northeast a Huge Success
2.) Kimi Pernia Domico Kidnapped!  **Urgent Action Needed**
3.) RAN Launches New Website

_______________________________________________________________
U'WA TOUR OF NORTHEAST A HUGE SUCCESS

U'wa President Roberto Perez recently completed a tour of five states in
the Northeast United States. The tour was organized by the Boston Earth
Action Network with support from long time U'wa supporters including
Rainforest Action Network, Rainforest Relief, The Activism Center at the
Wetlands Preserve, the Colombia Media Project of New York City, and
dozens of community groups. The tour allowed Perez to educate thousands
of people about the U'wa struggle and increased strategic pressure on
corporations that are backing Plan Colombia and the drilling on U'wa
land.

One stop on the tour included a forum with Professor Noam Chomsky, a
world-renowned intellectual and outspoken critic of American foreign
policy.  Perez also participated in numerous educational events; media
interviews; strategy meetings with activists and lawyers; and direct
confrontations with three U.S. corporations implicated in the ongoing
human rights and environmental tragedy in Colombia.

One of the tour's first stops was the Sikorsky helicopter plant in
Connecticut. Sikorsky received a contract the United States government
to build thirty Blackhawk helicopters for Plan Colombia. Sikorsky has
another contract pending to build thirty more helicopters. In addition
to making connections with local organizers, Perez recorded a statement
for workers at the plant explaining that the helicopters they were
making would be used to kill indigenous peoples in Colombia.

Perez also attended the shareholder's meeting of another major arms
manufacturer that provides weapons to Colombia, Textron Technologies,
maker of Bell Huey Helicopters. U'wa supporters joined with members of
New England's Kurdish community and representatives from the Sisters of
Mercy to call upon Textron to stop selling weapons to repressive regimes
that violate basic human rights.

On April 26th, Perez joined forces with a number of indigenous leaders-
including representatives from the Dineh people of Black Mesa, Arizona,
and from indigenous communities in Peru and Ecuador-to challenge
financial institutions that profit from the extraction of resources from
native lands. Organized by New York-based Rainforest Relief and The
Activism Center at Wetlands, the day's action brought close to sixty
protesters to the doors of Bernstein/Alliance Capital's offices to
demand that they follow Fidelity's lead and divest from Occidental
Petroleum and Colombia's oil wars. Activists carried a twelve foot tall
Oxy monster puppet, placards, and banners, and drummed atop Oxy oil
drums while Perez spoke to the crowd that had gathered around the
demonstration. Activists attempted to deliver a letter from the U'wa to
Sanford Bernstein but were denied at the entrance. The company then sent
a representative to meet with Perez, who delivered a letter denouncing
Oxy's drilling and Bernstein's financial backing of the project.

While this was happening at Bernstein/Alliance Capital headquarters in
New York, solidarity actions were taking place in eight cities across
the country at various Bernstein and Alliance offices. A strong message
was sent to Bernstein/Alliance Capital that the U'wa have friends in
many places and that we are uniting our voices to stop the destruction
of U'wa lands and culture. The message to Bernstein-and to all companies
that are willing to profit from genocide-is that we will hold them
accountable for the safety of the U'wa people.

Perez left the U.S. with messages of thanks to all those who have
supported the U'wa people and with renewed hope that together our
movements in Colombia, the U.S., and around the world can stop Plan
Colombia and put an end to oil exploitation once and for all!

See http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/beyond_oil/oxy/index.html for 10
things you can do to help the U'wa.

Update by Patrick, Organizing Director

_________________________________________________________________
KIMI PERNIA DOMICA KIDNAPPED!

"We are caught between two fires-they threaten us, they burn our houses
and canoes, they kill our leaders, and involve us in a war that is not
ours."   -Kimi Pernia Domico

On 2 June 2001, three armed gunmen --thought to be army-backed
paramilitaries belonging to the United Self-Defense Groups of Cordoba
and Uraba (ACCU)-- abducted Colombian indigenous leader Kimi Pernia
Domico, in the municipality of Tierralta, department of Córdoba.

Kimi Pernia Domico is a leader of the Embera-Katío indigenous people,
who live along the rivers Sinú and Verde in the department of Córdoba.  
He has played a leading role in the indigenous communities' campaign
against construction of the Urrá dam. In recent years, several
Embera-Katío indigenous communities, campaigning against the
construction of the Urrá Dam, have been targeted by paramilitary forces
working in alliance with the security forces.  The Dam has destroyed
much of their ancestral lands.  Community leaders have also been killed
by guerrilla forces, which have accused them of siding with the
paramilitary or security forces.

Urgent action needed:

Call your US Senators and Representatives and ask them to contact Anne
W. Patterson, US Ambassador to Columbia, and the US State Department,
urging them to speak our against Domico's disappearance to the Colombian
government.

Fax the President of Colombia expressing your concern for Kimi's life
and asking him to do everything possible to make sure that Kimi is
released alive now.

Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana Arango
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia
011 57 1 566 2071 (fax)

_________________________________________________________________
RAN LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE

RAN recently launched www.rainforestweb.org, an exciting new website
designed to strengthen efforts to save the world's endangered forests.
Rainforestweb.org provides comprehensive information about the state of
our world's rainforests through more than a thousand postings and links.
Created by RAN and designed by Blue Mandala, this unique site allows
concerned citizens, companies, and institutions to easily access the
most complete and current information about rainforest issues.
Rainforestweb.org also features a participatory design that encourages
users to add new resources, alerts, and other relevant postings to the
site.

RAN will soon launched an improved version of the organization's primary
website, www.ran.org, in late June. A new, streamlined architecture
ensures that the wealth of information available on the site is quickly
and easily accessible. The site also features a new graphic look and
cutting edge multimedia and interactive components designed to engage
visitors and enable them to take action on behalf of the rainforests.  
Visit www.ran.org today!

________________________________________________________________

If you'd like to give an additional donation you may do so online at:
http://www.ran.org/scripts/ran/join_start.pl/

As always, we welcome your comments regarding this newsletter.  Email
ranmembers@ran.org.



AOL Links

<a href="http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/beyond_oil/oxy/index.html ">10
ways to help the U'wa</a>
<a href="www.ran.org ">RAN's website</a>
<a href="www.rainforestweb.org">rainforestweb website</a>
<a href="http://www.ran.org/scripts/ran/join_start.pl/">make a
donation</a>

*******
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
To subscribe to this list, send a blank message to: ran-updates-subscribe@igc.topica.com

To unsubscribe, send a blank message to: ran-updates-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com

To read archived messages, go to http://igc.topica.com/lists/ran-updates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainforest Action Network
221 Pine Street, Suite 500
San Francisco, CA  94104
tel: 415-398-4404
fax: 415-398-2732
URL: http://www.ran.org/

http://www.purefood.org

STOP THE FTAA: Free Trade Area of the Americas
Good June - September 2001 

NAFTA was just the first step. The same corporate interests that are trying
to override our democracy and our hard-won labor and environmental
protections are taking their show on the road--to the entire hemisphere.
The FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) is like NAFTA, but proposed for
34 countries--all the countries in the Americas and Carribean except Cuba.
(This was the text being negotiated at the meeting of heads of state in
Quebec in April 2001). 

The text of the FTAA has been developed with the input from big business
all the way, but only government-invited nonprofits have been allowed in.
Many elected representatives in Congress have never seen it, and of course,
the authors have been trying to keep it under wraps and hidden from the
media and the general public. They want it fully in place by 2005. It is
now mostly written, and high-level negotiations are going on between the
countries. 

The first step in the campaign to ram the FTAA down our throats is an
attempt to give the President Fast Track Authority. If Congress grants him
Fast Track Authority, Bush would be able to propose the FTAA to Congress
for a simple Yes/No vote--no amendments allowed. 

The bill to give Bush Fast-Track Authority has already been proposed in
Congress. It is called HR 2149 (Public Citizen has a link to it
(www.tradewatch.org).) It will be voted on by September, possibly as early
as August. 

We must contact our members of Congress and tell them:
1. Vote NO on fast-track (HR 2149)
2. Vote NO on the FTAA. 

You can write, phone or visit your representative when they return to the
district this summer. There are sample letters and links available at our
web site, www.purefood.org/corp/ftaaresources.cfm. If you want to
participate in a visit to your representative and need help, contact Global
Trade Watch at www.tradewatch.org or call 202/546-4996. This is a very
effective method! If your organization wants to sign a statement of
opposition to FTAA or Fast Track, contact Global Trade Watch. 

Letters to the editor and flyer distribution are also important. See
www.purefood.org/corp/ftaaresources.cfm for samples. We have a simple
half-page flyer you can print out and distribute. 

NAFTA has been a disaster: half a million U.S. jobs lost, massive pollution
on the US-Mexico border, the US trade surplus with Mexico now an $18
billion deficit, loss of our democratic sovereignty… And FTAA is far worse!

The FTAA would intensify NAFTA’s “race to the bottom”: under FTAA,
exploited workers in Mexico could be leveraged against even more desperate
workers in Haiti, Guatemala or Brazil by companies seeking tariff-free
>access back into U.S. markets. The FTAA could include provisions to
privatize services like postal services and schools, allow professionals
like licensed in one country to work in another without relicensing, cut
down on inspection, force other countries to accept U.S. genetically
modified seed, and many more “rights” for business that override our rights
as citizens to determine our own lives! 

It is really unbelievable that something this important for the future of
the planet is happening under our noses, with no media coverage. We have
tremendous power because the stakes are so high. We CAN defeat FTAA if YOU
get involved. For more information contact Danila at Organic Consumers
Association at ftaa@purefood.org, or Global Trade Watch at 202/454-5103 or
www.tradewatch.org. 

Thank you 

Danila Oder
Organic Consumers Association
http://www.purefood.org

     From the same crew that made the film "Death of 1000 Wolves"


Earth Rescue: Dead Coyote Walking

Narrated by: Peter Coyote

The rules of the game are as plain as death-- the hunter who  kills the
most coyotes wins. A nationwide controversy has arisen over Predator
Hunting Contests that offer participants cash or prize rewards for killing
large  numbers of coyotes. Hunting participants say these contests are a
necessary  component to wildlife management while conservationists say the
indiscriminate  killing of coyotes is not only inhumane, but as a
management solution, it simply  does not work.

Premiering June 26, on the Outdoor Life Network, 7:00 p.m.  and 10:00 p.m.
western time

Please take a few minutes to visit http://www.akrain.organd oppose
the Gravina Island Roadless Timber sale!
_______________________________________________________________________
The Gravina Island Timber Sale: the first test of the Bush Administration’s Roadless Protections

In a June 7 directive USFS Chief, Dale Bosworth stated, “the Forest Service is committed to protecting and managing roadless areas”. At the same time Chief Bosworth took sole responsibility for deciding whether any road-building or logging project will be allowed in roadless areas
nationwide. It is time to put his commitment to the test.

The Gravina Island Timber Sale is located in a pristine roadless area just west of Ketchikan, Alaska in the heart of the Tongass National Forest.  The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Gravina was released just days after the final Roadless Rule was published.

The Gravina Island timber sale would:
- Log thousands of acres of oldgrowth rainforest from the heart of a 37,000acre roadless area;
- clearcut up to 37 million board feet of irreplaceable oldgrowth forest;
and
- build almost 22 miles of new logging roads.

Clearcutting and road building in the steep terrain and severe climate of the Tongass will cause enormous damage to critical fish and wildlife
habitat including that of the Alexander Archipelago wolf;coho, chum and
pink salmon; black bear; Sitka black tailed deer; and nesting bald eagles.

In addition to the ecological impacts, the timber sale poses great threats to historic, cultural and recreational values of the area.
-The nearby native communities of Metlakatla and Saxman use the area for
their traditional hunting, fishing, and plant gathering activities. In a
recent subsistence hearing regarding the timber sale-every tribal member
who testified supported the no-action alternative as the only one that
would protect t traditional uses.
- The sale area also contains significant Alaska native historical and
cultural resources including sacred burial sites and historic fishing camps dating back more than 3,000 years.
-Many residents of Ketchikan consider Gravina Island one of their primary places to hunt, hike, camp, fish, and kayak

Chief Bosworth will fail to uphold his public commitment to protect the
value of roadless areas if the Gravina Island timber sale is allowed to
continue. The Chief should immediately order a halt to the sale, as well as the 5 additional roadless sales that are proceeding in the Tongass in direct violation of the Roadless Rule.

What You Can Do:
Send your comments opposing the Gravina Island Timber Sale by JUNE 26, 2001 to:

Jerry Ingersoll
District/Monument Ranger
Attn: Gravina Island
3031 Tongass Ave.
Ketchikan, AK 99901
(fax) 907-225-8738
cgrundy@fs.fed.us

Please also be sure to send a copy of your comment to FS Chief Bosworth:

Forest Service Chief, Dale Bosworth
USDA-Forest Service
P.O. Box 96090
Washington, DC 20090-6090
fax) 202-205-1765
dbosworth@fs.fed.us

You can also send personalized comments from http://www.akrain.org

Important points to make in your comments:

- The Gravina Island Timber Sale violates the Roadless Rule and the US
Forest Service’s commitment to protect roadless area values and should be stopped.
- Support the no-action alternative as the only one that will protect this pristine area.
- The sale poses great threat to the historical, cultural and recreational values of this area.
- Logging in this roadless area will damage important fish and wildlife
habitat that is vital to local communities.

If at anytime you wish to unsubscribe please visit http://www.akrain.org/howtohelp/default.asp where you can easily remove yourself from the list.  To speak with someone directly please e-mail info@akrain.org or call 907-747-8292.

Thanks for your support.

Alaska Rainforest Campaign Staff

please forward as necessary

To:  All Activists
From:  Alix Davidson, Recreation Campaigner, American Lands Alliance
Date: June 20, 2001

Please Ask Your Representative to Support the DeFazio Amendment on Fee Demo

Please call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and ask him/her to
support the DeFazio Fee Demo Amendment to the House Interior
Appropriations Bill.  The Amendment, sponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio
(D-OR) would limit the Fee Demonstration Program to a one-year extension
and keep the caps on the number of sites to which it applies.  The
Interior bill will begin tomorrow, June 21, and the DeFazio amendment is
expected to be debated as early in the afternoon, or Friday morning so
your calls are urgently needed.

Currently the Interior bill allows for a four year extension of the
program, which essentially makes it permanent, and lifts the cap on the
number of places where the agencies can charge fees so that the agencies
can impose fees at as many sites as they wish.  The Fee Demonstration
Program, created by an anti-environmental rider in 1996, applies to the
Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife
Service.

Reasons to support the DeFazio amendment include:

1) The General Accounting Office (GAO) is studying the administration,
management, revenue distribution from the Recreational Fee Demonstration
Program.  This report,  requested by Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY), will be
ready in September.  It is premature to lock this program in for 4 more
years before the GAO report is available.

2) The Recreational Fee Demonstration Program has met with considerable
opposition from conservation and community groups across the nation --
over 200 organizations oppose the program to date.

3) A recent Forest Service Study indicates that the Recreational Fee
Demonstration Program is having a "significant exclusionary impact" on
poor people who live near National Forests where the program is active,
and that they are staying away from these lands because of it.

The text of the amendment to be offered by Rep. Peter DeFazio is as
follows:

* Strikes extension of program from 2002 to 2006.  Replaces it with a
one year extension to 2003 (Title III, section 312 (a)(1))
* Strikes time funds are available for use from 2005 to 2009.  Replaces
it with one year extension to 2006.  (Title III, section 312 (a)(2))
* Strikes the expansion of the program beyond 100 fee sites per agency.  
Maintains current limit of 100 sites per agency.  (Title III, section
312(b))
* Strikes portion of short-term special use permits going directly to
local agencies.  Maintains current system.  (Title III, section 312 (e))


For more information, please contact Alix Davidson at (202) 547- 5974,
adavidson@americanlands.org

Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org

Ask Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi to help save the Kyoto climate treaty!

US President George W. Bush's attempt to destroy the international treaty against climate change and global warming is falling to pieces. Recently, at the European Summit in Gothenburg, the major European heads of government stated very clearly that they would ratify the Kyoto Protocol so that it could enter into force in time for the Earth Summit in South Africa next year.

Thank you to everyone who sent a letter to European leaders! However, this next action alert is even more important.

Japan is the next key player to put its cards on the table.

Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan will be visiting President Bush on 30th June. They will discuss global warming and the Kyoto climate treaty.

Japan's support for the Kyoto Protocol is absolutely essential for ensuring the treaty comes into force. Now it's Japan's turn to show it's an environmental leader too.

As a major economic power, and a large global warming polluter, Japan has a responsibility to its own citizens and to the rest of the world to help combat climate change.

The fate of the Kyoto Protocol lies in the hands of Prime Minister Koizumi.

Please write to him now to ask him to honour the promise that Japan made in Kyoto, by ratifying the Kyoto treaty so that it can enter into force by 2002.

We have set up an action alert at:

http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/ams/e?a=kyoto_japan&s=blue2s

This alert will fax your letter to the Japanese prime minister.

VISIT THE CYBERCENTRE

Please don't forget to visit the Greenpeace Cyberactivist Community at:
http://act.greenpeace.org

Although this post does not pertain specifically to the U'wa we thought
people supporting the U'wa would want to know about this issue since it
has implications not only for RAN's work but the work of all activist
organizations who use non-violent direct action in the work for social
and environmental justice.  Additionally although it appears that the
attack is orchestrated by timber giant Boise Cascade, the role of other
corporations like Occidental Petroleum is certainly not out of the
question.  

In this Post -
1. ACTION ALERT! Defend the right to protest!  Stop Boise Cascade!
2. Rainforest Action Network Press Release
3. SF Chronicle : June 21 Attack on tax status of environmental group
4. Wall Street Journal : June 21 Conservatives Seek IRS Inquiry On
Environmental Group's Status.


***********************************************************

#1 ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST RAN THREATENS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT
TO PEACEFUL PROTEST

TAKE ACTION!  
TELL BOISE CASCADE THEIR DIRTY TRICKS WON'T STOP GRASSROOTS FOREST
PROTECTION EFFORTS

As part of a propaganda campaign funding directly by global forest
destroyer Boise Cascade (and who knows who else - RAN has lots of
corporate enemies)two right wing think tanks have launched an
orchestrated campaign against RAN.  These two groups, Center for the
Defense of Free Enterprise run by anti-enviro PR king Ron Arnold and
Frontiers of Freedom Institute(FF)founded by retired Senator Malcolm
"strip mine" Wallop are notoriously anti-environmental front groups for
the timber and oil industries.  The campaign began last fall with the
launch of an attack site www.ranamuck.org, has involved contacting Boise
Cascade customers and RAN funders and even a June 13th Congressional
forum entitled "Eco-Terrorism and Extremism" in which Arnold and others
attempted to link RAN with property destruction and the "Earth
Liberation Front".  Now Frontiers of Freedom has filed a petition to the
IRS requesting that RAN's tax-exempt 501c3 status be revoked.  

The Congressional forum involved attacks on lots of environmental groups
but particularly highlighted RAN.   To quote FF's press release "Ron
Arnold, executive vice president of the non-profit think tank, the
Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, will spotlight the Rainforest
Action Network as an attack group not an environmental group. He will
present RAN’s anti-capitalist and anti-corporate agenda of force,
intimidation and unlawful actions. Arnold will also show suspicious
links between RAN’s rhetoric and Earth Liberation Front acts."  Other
speakers at the forum included Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Rep. George
Nethercutt (R-WA) and FBI experts.

These accusations are ridiculous - RAN is dedicated to exclusively
non-violent means and does not engage in nor advocate property
destruction.  This campaign is a desperate attempt by pro-logging
factions to discredit RAN and undermine the  successful work of the
grassroots forest protection movement. It is the frantic gasps of the
timber industry who has sunk to misinformation and smear campaigns to
hide their wholesale liquidation of the world's remaining forests.

Frontiers of Freedom makes it clear this is a test case and if
successful they will challenge the tax-exempt status of other
environmental and social justice groups.  They are attacking the basic
rights of citizens to engage in free speech and peaceful protest.  We
must unite to let Boise Cascade know that we will not let them get away
with this blatant effort to silence the voices of forest defenders.   

PLEASE VISIT http://www.ran.org/info_center/aa/boiseattacks.html TO TAKE
ACTION TO PROTECT ALL OF OUR FREE SPEECH RIGHTS.  Send a letter to Boise
and tell them that instead of trying to silence non-violent forest
advocates their should use their money to transform their destructive
forest operations.  

Congratulations everyone!  These attacks are coming about because of the
successful work of the entire grassroots forest defense movement to
challenge the power of massive corporations to destroy the Earth.  That
means they're scared.  And why are they scared?  Because we're winning!  
Grassroots non-violent direct action campaigns are succeeding in
protecting forests!   However let's all be vigilant.  These types of
attacks are serious and they are meant to scare activists away from our
work of publicly and non-violently defending the forests.  Show them
you've got nothing to hide by keeping up all the great work everyone!

"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that
is an idea whose time has come" - Victor Hugo

***********************************************************
#2
Press release from Rainforest Action Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, June 20, 2001
CONTACT: Shannon Wright, 415-398-4404 or Erin Malec, 415-255-1946

Logging Giant Boise Cascade and Anti-Environment Activists  on the
Attack
Against Rainforest Action Network

Free Speech and World’s Remaining Old Growth Forests Threatened by Boise
Cascade

Wise Use Movement's Ron Arnold and Frontiers of Freedom Institute Have
Petitioned IRS, Begun Political and Media Campaigns
__________________________________

San Francisco - Anti-environmental activists stepped up the campaign
against Rainforest Action Network (RAN) by requesting that the Internal
Revenue Service repeal RAN’s non-profit status. The campaign may be the
extension of efforts by Boise Cascade - the embattled logging giant
responsible for clear-cutting National Forests in the U.S. - to smear
RAN for its successful campaign protecting forests by reducing consumer
demand for products made from old-growth wood. Recently Boise sent
threatening letters to many of RAN’s  funders.

RAN’s work pressuring Home Depot and other lumber chains to stop buying
wood made from old-growth forests led to a deal brokered by the Canadian
government to save a huge swath of the “Great Bear” rainforest. It was
one of the largest temperate rainforest conservation deals in history.
Recently RAN has been running a high-profile campaign urging Boise
Cascade to cease its clear-cut logging on public forests in the U.S.
Boise Cascade was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the historic
ban on new road building in National Forests.

"The timber industry is attacking not just RAN, but the First Amendment
itself," said Chris Hatch, RAN's Executive Director. "Boise Cascade is
attacking RAN because we have exposed its destruction of the world's
last remaining old growth rainforests. As for the anti-environment
activists, they are trying to scare our funders. Let there be no doubt:
the work to protect our forests will not only continue, but escalate."

“If it were up to these folks, they would have taken away Martin Luther
King’s church’s status,” commented Drummond Pike, Presidents of the
Tides Foundation.  “As a funder, there can be no greater affirmation
that I am funding the right outfit as to see the old growth logging
industry so desperate and sinking to dirty tricks.”

“This is a major abuse of the IRS process and an attack on the free
speech rights of Rainforest Action Network,” said Jim Wheaton, a Senior
Attorney with the First Amendment Project (FAP), a non-profit, public
interest law firm that defends individuals, civic organizations,
journalists and media organizations involved in petition and free speech
cases. “There’s no basis for the claims these anti-environmental
activists are making. The IRS laws are designed to protect against
felony abuse - not misdemeanor trespass
offenses committed in a campaign to expose forest destruction.”

“This appears to be a desperate attempt by Boise Cascade - which lost
$35.5 million during the first quarter of this year - to blame RAN for
its problems,” added Hatch. “The fact of the matter is that ordinary
citizens are rejecting Boise’s clear cut destruction of the world’s
remaining old-growth forests. A recent L.A. Times poll found that nine
out of ten Americans believe protections for wilderness is important,
and six out of ten support a halt to road building in National Forests.”

Two right wing activist groups are behind an orchestrated campaign
against RAN. The “Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise,” headed by
anti-environmentalist for-hire Ron Arnold, and the “Frontiers of Freedom
Institute,” founded by retired Wyoming Senator Malcolm Wallop. Ron
Arnold’s attack website, ranamuck.org, contains much of the same
information, including quotations, cited by Boise Cascade in a series of
intimidating letters it sent to environmental foundations. Already
defensive, Arnold claims on his site that his attack on RAN “is not a
question of stifling their free speech rights.”

Ron Arnold is a well-known anti-environmental activist. Here are a few
of the statements he has made to the media:
· "We want to destroy environmentalists by taking away their money and
their members" (New York Times, Dec 19, 1991)
· "We are sick to death of environmentalism and so we will destroy it."
(Boston Globe, Jan 13, 1992)

On June 13, Wallop organized a forum on "Eco-Terrorism and Extremism"
whose sole purpose appears to have been to smear RAN by falsely linking
it with groups associated with property destruction and arson. Sen.
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. George Nethercutt (R-WA) spoke at the event.

A press release issued by Frontiers of Freedom said that "Ron Arnold,
executive vice president of the non-profit think tank, the Center for
the Defense of Free Enterprise, will spotlight the Rainforest Action
Network as an attack group not an environmental group. He will present
RAN's anti-capitalist and anti-corporate agenda of force, intimidation
and unlawful actions. Arnold will also show suspicious links between
RAN's rhetoric and Earth Liberation Front acts."

“RAN is a strictly non-violent organization.  We don't advocate or
engage in property destruction of any kind,” said Shannon Wright, RAN’s
Communications Director. “RAN has a track record of working productively
to transform major corporations such as Home Depot, Lowe’s and other
Fortune 500 companies that have stopped buying wood products made from
the world’s remaining old-growth forests.”

###

For more information about Boise Cascade's links to the current campaign
against RAN check out :
http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/old_growth/isboisebehind.html


***********************************************************
#3
San Francisco Chronicle

Attack on tax status of environment group
Conservatives ask IRS for new ruling

Glen Martin, Chronicle Environment Writer
  
Thursday, June 21, 2001


In a move that could hobble environmental protests,
a conservative lobbying organization has petitioned
the Internal Revenue Service to rescind nonprofit
status for a San Francisco environmental group.

Environmentalists say a positive ruling by the IRS
would have a chilling effect on nonprofit
organizations that sometimes engage in lobbying or
protests.

The unusual action by the Frontiers of Freedom
Institute in Arlington, Va., against Rainforest Action
Network (RAN) could represent a new strategy by
conservative groups alarmed by recent large-scale
protests against world trade and multinational
corporations.

Rainforest Action Network specializes in public
campaigns against companies the group believes are
involved in the destructive logging of old-growth
forests or selling products from such forests.

The Frontiers of Freedom Institute has requested
that the IRS revoke the 501(c)(3) status of
Rainforest Action. Such status means that an
organization is tax-exempt and that all contributions
made to it are tax deductible.

"They basically contend that because some
members of Rainforest Action have participated in
misdemeanor trespass (during protests), they are
engaged in criminal behavior, and that (RAN)
therefore deserves to be stripped of nonprofit
status," said Michael Shellenberger, a spokesman
for the environmental group.

The IRS can revoke 501(c)(3) status if it
determines an organization spends too much money
on lobbying -- generally, more than 20 percent of
revenues -- or if members engage in criminal
activity.

"It's a canard," Shellenberger said of the institute's
contentions. "The kind of activity that would require
revocation of 501(c)(3) is felonious activity --
embezzlement and the like."

Jason Wright, a spokesman for the institute,
confirmed that his organization had made the
request to the IRS but declined to comment further
to The Chronicle, saying the story had been
promised exclusively to another publication.

In March, the Frontiers of Freedom Institute issued
a press release condemning Rainforest Action
Network for protests held at the headquarters of
Boise Cascade, a forest products company based
in Boise, Idaho.

George Landrith, the institute's executive director,
called Rainforest Action Network "fundamentally
radical, anti-capitalist and lawless."

"American companies are the most responsible
forest resource developers in the world," Landrith
said. "In contrast, RAN's approach to forest
resource development would cost thousands of
jobs, reduce choices for consumers and achieve
little environmental good."

Boise Cascade has been a primary target of
Rainforest Action because of its logging activities in
old-growth coniferous forests in British Columbia.

Boise Cascade spokeswoman Susan Walton said
her company was not affiliated with Frontiers of
Freedom.

"But we are certainly aware that some organizations
are beginning to question the status of groups like
RAN as charitable institutions due to their lawless
activities," Walton said. "We have found (RAN) to
be a group of reckless, lawless and radical
activists."

Walton said three RAN members had been
arrested in Boise in April for rappeling off a building
during protests against the company.

"And three others were arrested in October of last
year when they illegally entered our building," she
said. "We're just thankful no one was hurt."

Walton said Boise Cascade had met several times
with RAN staff members to discuss logging issues
and would do so again, "but the first item on the
agenda will have to be a correction of the mistruths
they have spread on this company."

Shellenberger said Rainforest Action would survive
no matter what the IRS decided. "(Frontiers of
Freedom) is trying to scare our supporters, but they
won't be scared," he said. "Ultimately, this will help
us raise money."

But other environmental leaders deplore the
development. "It's outrageous," said Carl Pope,
director of the Sierra Club. "By the standard
Frontiers of Freedom is trying to apply, the
NAACP and other civil rights groups would have
lost their tax exemptions because members
participated in protests.

"I think this could have a very chilling effect on many
organizations. If it goes through, we'll have very
strong evidence that the Bush administration has
politicized the IRS."



***********************************************************
#4
June 21, 2001

Wall Street Journal

Conservatives Seek IRS Inquiry
On Environmental Group's Status

                  By ANNE MARIE CHAKER
                  Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

                  A conservative nonprofit group backed by tobacco and
oil companies is asking the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the
tax-exempt status it granted Rainforest Action Network, an environmental
group known for high-pressure campaigns to change corporate behavior.

                  The move could accelerate a war of the nonprofits,
with activist groups on the right and left challenging the tax
exemptions of opponents. Frontiers of Freedom, which calls itself the
"antithesis" of the environmental movement, says it will challenge other
environmental groups if its effort is successful.

                  In a letter to the IRS earlier this week, Frontiers
contends that Rainforest Action is violating federal law by using
tax-deductible donations to fund its advocacy campaigns. Under IRS
rules,  the funds are supposed to go toward "public education," but
Frontiers contends  that such past activities as attempting to prevent a
ship from leaving port and blocking the entrance to the San Francisco
offices of Mitsubishi Bank don't qualify.

                  Rainforest Action defends its activities. "We believe
that when laws are unjust they can be broken in a symbolic way," says
Executive Director Christopher Hatch. He adds that the group received a
letter from the IRS in 1997 saying that it had been audited and that it
continued to qualify for its tax exemption. He also says that less than
1% of the group's budget goes to picketing and other activities where
laws could be broken. The group's other activities include research and
more conventional forms of
education on environmental issues.

                  The Rainforest case could boil down to how the IRS
defines educational. And that isn't clear, lawyers say. Under the tax
code enforced by the IRS, tax-exempt groups that support politicians or
do substantial lobbying for specific legislation don't qualify for
tax-deductible donations. But educational nonprofits that don't engage
in activity related to partisan political campaigns can qualify for
tax-deductible contributions. In addition to Rainforest Action, the
latter group -- known as 501(c)(3)s for the section of the code that
covers them -- includes charities and churches as well as such groups as
the Trust for Public Land, the Audubon Society and
the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise.

                  To determine whether groups qualify, the IRS examines
the methods the organizations use to develop and present their views.
Groups must present a factual foundation for their positions, and their
presentations should avoid "substantial use" of disparaging and
inflammatory terms, the code says. In a ruling in 1975, near the end of
the Vietnam War, the IRS disqualified groups whose primary activity was
sponsoring demonstrations at which participants were urged to block
vehicles or pedestrians, prevent the movement of supplies or disrupt the
work of government.

                  The Rainforest Action case "locates the issue squarely
in an area where it's very indeterminate" as to where the IRS stands,
says Frances Hill, a University of Miami law professor, who notes that
the agency's most recent rulings on charities and political activism are
nearly 20 years old.

                  Some lawyers who specialize in tax-exempt
organizations see no problem with Rainforest Action's activities. Bruce
R. Hopkins, an attorney in Kansas City, Mo., points to the IRS's 1979
review of the Infant Formula  Action Coalition, a group he represented
that conducted a national boycott of companies that marketed infant
formula in developing countries. After an initial rejection, the IRS
granted the group's request for charity status -- in effect, saying a
group could organize a boycott to carry out an educational objective.

                  But Marcus Owens, a former director of the exempt
organizations division at the IRS, sees some merit in Frontiers' point
of view. "Just because you're educational doesn't mean you can achieve
your educational goal any way you choose," he says. "If indeed the
organization is encouraging and conceivably directing its members to
violate the law, then there's a potential problem."

                  Frontiers, which says it began looking into
Rainforest's activities last fall, was founded in 1995 by former Sen.
Malcolm Wallop, a Wyoming Republican and friend of Vice President Dick
Cheney. Its biggest contributors include Philip Morris Cos., Exxon Mobil
Corp. and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. It has two components: a
501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4), which is tax exempt but can't accept
tax-deductible donations. It says it uses grass-roots activity,
congressional lobbying, publications, media appearances and
coalition-building to further its own goals.

                  George Landrith, the group's executive director, says
Frontiers chose Rainforest Action for a test case because it stood out
in a review of "the workings of groups that don't agree with us" about
property-rights issues. "As a practical matter, if this had come up a
year ago I wouldn't have expected the IRS to have done much about it,"
Mr. Landrith says. "But our hope is that the current administration will
expect the law to be abided by."

                  During the Clinton administration, the nonpartisan
Americans United for Separation of Church and State complained to the
IRS about the political activities of certain churches in 25 separate
instances. Americans United says it knows of only one group that had its
charitable status yanked as a result: Branch Ministries, which had run
newspaper ads encouraging Christians not to vote for Mr. Clinton.

                  Some lawyers say the strategy of challenging
tax-exempt status could be used more often, especially if the
McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill -- which would ban "soft-money"
contributions from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals to
national political parties -- becomes law and donors start channeling
their money through advocacy nonprofits.

                  It's unclear how the IRS will react. "We evaluate the
comments that come in to us based on the merits they have and the
substance they contain," says IRS spokesman Don Roberts.

                  But even if the IRS disagrees with Frontiers,
"reporting political enemies to the IRS is an attractive tactic because
it forces the enemy to spend resources and sleepless nights," says
Jeffery Yablon, a tax lawyer specializing in exempt organizations at
Shaw Pittman in Washington who has represented a wide range of clients.
"Adverse publicity is an added bonus, particularly if it scares away
donors."