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NEWS - Labour Group Slams EU Over W



Labour Group Slams EU Over WTO Action on Myanmar

            Reuters
            21-SEP-98

            GENEVA, Sept 21 (Reuters)- Major labour bodies on Monday
            accused the European Union of giving comfort to Myanmar's
military
            leadership by taking the United States to a trade court over
action
            against foreign firms trading with the Asian state. 

            In a statement faxed to Geneva, the Brussels-based
International
            Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the European
Trade
            Union Confederation said they were astounded at the EU's
action
            involving the former Burma, which is due to be formalised on
Tuesday. 

            "The European Union will now risk appearing to be condoning
the
            current repression of human rights in Burma in order to
promote the
            interests of European multinational companies," the
statement said. 

            On Tuesday, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World
Trade
            Organisation (WTO) will consider a request from the EU and
Japan to
            set up a panel to look into their complaint that the
anti-Myanmar action
            in the United States broke WTO rules. 

            The complaint is focused on a ban by the state government of
            Massachusetts on official purchases of goods or services
from U.S.
            and foreign companies which do business in Myanmar. 

            The 15-nation European Union and Japan argue that the ban,
which
            the U.S. administration has sought to persuade officials in
            Massachusetts to modify, runs against provisions of the
government
            procurement agreement in the 1994 world trade treaty. 

            But the EU and Japan, which have also moved to limit
contacts with
            Myanmar by companies under their own jurisdiction, argue
that the
            United States or its constituent states have no right to
apply national or
            state law to foreign firms. 

            The case is similar to one brought by the Brussels-
headquartered EU,
            with no complaint and even implicit support from labour
groups, in the
            WTO against the United States over the Helms-Burton law
penalising
            foreign companies investing in Cuba. 

            The EU, backed by almost all other countries in the
132-member
            WTO, said in that action also that the main thrust of its
case was
            against what it saw as "extra-territoriality" or application
of U.S. law
            beyond U.S. borders. 

            Like many U.S. officials, the EU has expressed concern that
the
            Massachusetts action, if not contested, could lead to a
snowballing of
            similar bans by other U.S. states based on human rights,
religious and
            other concerns not related to trade. 

            The two labour union bodies, which have shown little
sympathy for the
            U.S. position with regard to the Cuba investment case, said
that if the
            Massachusetts action did not comply with WTO rules, "then
the WTO
            rules need changing". 

            WTO rules, based on the body's underlying General Agreement
on
            Tariffs and Trade, are negotiated by all members of the body
and the
            United States played a key role in shaping them. 

            Among European companies to which the Massachusetts
government
            has named as trading with Myanmar are the Anglo-Dutch
consumer
            products group Unilever Plc and German electronics giant
Siemens
            AG. The state has also acted against some U.S. companies. 

            U.S. trade officials are expected to oppose the request for
immediate
            creation of a WTO panel, which would have six months to make
a
            ruling, at Tuesday's DSB meeting. But, if the EU and Japan
persist,
            the three-man body will be set up automatically at the next
DSB
            session in one months's time.