[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
U.S. Federal Court Revokes Massac
- Subject: U.S. Federal Court Revokes Massac
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 21:17:00
Subject: U.S. Federal Court Revokes Massachusetts Trade Law
Asia:Myanmar
U.S. Federal Court Revokes
Massachusetts Trade Law
Reuters
05-NOV-98
BOSTON, (Reuters) - Massachusetts officials Thursday were
deciding whether
or not to appeal a federal court ruling that struck down the
state's law imposing
sanctions on firms doing business with Myanmar, formerly
known as Burma.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro, in a ruling late
Wednesday, found that the
Massachusetts Burma Law, which effectively barred firms
doing business with
Myanmar from state contracts, "unconstitutionally infringes
on the federal
government's exclusive authority to regulate foreign affairs."
According to Judge Tauro, "Massachusetts' concern for the
welfare of the
people of Myanmar as manifested by this legislative
enactment, may well be
regarded as admirable. But, under the exclusive foreign
affairs doctrine, the
proper forum to raise such concerns is the United States
Congress."
Asst. Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Barnico said in
a telephone
interview Thursday, "We're deciding whether to appeal. If we
do, we'll also try
to get a stay of the ruling so that the law can be
reinstated while the appeal is
heard."
Massachusetts enacted the 1996 law to sanction Myanmar for
human rights
violations.
The National Foreign Trade Council, a group representing
some of the largest
U.S. corporations, brought the lawsuit arguing that the
measure attempted to
regulate foreign affairs. Since it went into effect in 1997,
a number of companies
have withdrawn from Myanmar, including Hewlett-Packard Co.
and Eastman
Kodak Co.
The European Union, which recently renewed its own limited
1996 sanctions
against Myanmar, supported the council's lawsuit. It said
the law, "interferes with
the normal conduct of EU-U.S. relations; raises questions
about the ability of the
U.S. to honor international commitments...and poses a great
risk to the
proliferation of similar state sanction laws, which in turn
would aggravate
international tensions."
The World Trade Organization, at the urging of the EU and
Japan, agreed last
month to set up a dispute panel to examine the Massachusetts
law. It is unclear
what will happen in that action.
((Boston newsroom, 617-367-4106; fax, 617-248-9563; e-mail,
Boston.newsroom+Reuters.com))
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights
reserved.
© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc. A Time Warner
Company
All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this
information is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.
Custom News is built on technology.