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SERVICE? WHOSE The MAI was only a rehearsal for what the transnational corporations have in mind under the GATS, which is why individuals, communities and nations must stand up for their rights. he General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) is seen as the next MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment). It has a wider impact on a broad range of "services" than many (undemocratic) international trade and investment agreements. Strong business lobby groups have helped make the US and European Union (EU) push the GATS hard to developing countries. If given the go-ahead, it will have "devastating effects on the ability of governments to meet the needs of the poorest and most powerless of their citizens", according to the World Development Movement's report, "In Whose Service?" The report goes on to show that there are concerns on a number of fronts, including the following: 1. GATS covers basic services like water, health and education. These are basic neces- sities, not things that can be left to the market. It should be the duty of governments to ensure that even the poorest have access to such services, whether or not they can afford to pay. Yet, water supply in developing countries appears to be a major target for European companies in the current negotiations. 2. GATS rules are not just limited to the cross-border trade in services. They also pre- vent some forms of government regulation of foreign investors, that is, of multinational companies setting up shop in their country. The GATS therefore extends beyond other trade agreements, preventing governments from following their own national develop- ment strategies and ensuring that local people actually benefit from the presence of multi- national corporations. 3. Commitments made by governments under GATS are effectively irreversible. The privatisation and deregulation of service provision is highly controversial, yet govern- ments are not only signing away their own right to regulate but the right of future genera- tions to implement different policies. Negotiations are scheduled to start in March 2001, with a view to having an agreement by the end of 2002. (Source: http:/www. globalissues.org/TradeRelated/F reeTrade/GATS.asp) GATS HANDBOOK What is GATS? r “he General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is one of 15 agreements adopt- ed as part of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, concluded in 1994, which greatly expanded the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The Uruguay Round also created the World Trade Organization to enforce the agreements. Today, 139 countries are in the WTO. Every country in the WTO is part of the GATS. Services cover everything from McDonald's hamburger flippers to international bankers. Health care, education, legal, accountancy, advertising, media, travel, even municipal services like sewerage and water are all services which today make up about 70 per cent of the US economy. The goal of bringing services into the WTO is to make sure they are "liberalised". This means promoting privatisation of public services like education. It also means deregula- tion of services at the local, state and national levels and subjecting them to the WTO's global rules for the benefit of transnational corporations (TNCs). The US pushed very hard to have services included in the Uruguay Round negotiations, but did not succeed in requiring the inclusion of all services. Countries resisted the threat by Ruth Caplan © 2001 Author, GATS Handbook Alliance for Democracy and Co-chair, Campaign on Corporate Globalization/Positive Alternatives 3407 34th Place NW Washington, DC 20016, USA Telephone: +1 (202) 244 0561 Fax: +1 (202) 537 6045 E-mail: rcaplan@igc.org Author, GATS Handbook Alliance for Democracy and Co-chair, Campaign on Corporate Globalization/Positive Alternatives 3407 34th Place NW Washington, DC 20016, USA Telephone: +1 (202) 244 0561 Fax: +1 (202) 537 6045 E-mail: rcaplan@igc.org APRIL — MAY 2001 NEXUS + 17 THE SPECTRE OF GLOBAL FREE TRADE IN SERVICES by Ruth Caplan © 2001 www.nexusmagazine.com