Summary

The document addresses the major topics on the official agenda of the FTAA negotiators (investment, finance, intellectual property rights, agriculture, market access and dispute resolution), as well as topics that are of extreme social importance but which governments have ignored (human rights, environment, labour, immigration, the role of the state, and energy).

Issues concerning two other important groups—women and indigenous peoples—have been incorporated throughout the document.

The paper begins with a chapter on the general principles underlying an alternative vision, followed by chapters that lay out more concrete proposals. The topics and chapters are complementary. Therefore, the paper is to be viewed, studied and discussed as a whole.

The first draft of this paper was prepared for the Summit of the Peoples of the Americas, held in April 1998 in Santiago, Chile, in the days preceding the Summit for heads of state (see preface for more details). Six national organizations took on the responsibility of organizing a Forum on Social and Economic Alternatives within the Peoples' Summit. These were the Centro de Estudios sobre Transnacionalización, Economía y Sociedad (Chile), Common Frontiers (Canada), Development GAP-Alliance for Responsible Trade (United States), Instituto Brasileiro de Analise Social e Econômica (IBASE-Brazil), Red Mexicana de Acción Frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC-Mexico), and the Réseau québécois sur l'intégration continentale (RQIC-Quebec).

These organizations approached several well-known researchers who have developed their understanding of globalization over many years and who have strong links to social movements. Other specialists were asked to provide suggestions for changes or additions. In all, more than 30 people from eight nations contributed to the first draft.

At the Forum on Social and Economic Alternatives for the Americas at the Peoples Summit, about 200 people discussed the first draft and developed some consensus on the general guidelines for this proposal. It was decided, however, to continue to build on the draft by incorporating points raised during this and other fora of the Peoples' Summit, as well as incorporating new suggestions and contributions. Therefore, in addition to reviewing the minutes of those meetings, direct contact was made with some of the people and organizations most involved with each forum. This second draft of the working paper incorporates that input.

Each chapter reflects the level of discussion that took place on that topic at the Summit's fora and within organizations around the continent. This explains why there is such a wide range of depth and breadth in the proposals. The paper brings together the points seen as viable and on which there is broad consensus.

The focus has been on laying the basis for an inclusive alliance. Hence, these proposals are not built on specific ideologies or political positions. The document also takes into account the diversity of our societies and presents a set of proposals that are flexible enough to deal with the full range of national conditions and interests. The paper is a "living" document, offered for your consideration with the hope that continuing discussions will enrich the next draft, reflecting higher levels of consensus toward a Peoples' Alternative for the Americas.

General Principles: Trade and investment should not be ends in themselves, but rather the instruments for achieving just and sustainable development. Citizens must have the right to participate in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of hemispheric social and economic policies. Central goals of these policies should be to promote economic sovereignty, social welfare, and reduced inequality at all levels.

Human Rights: Countries of the Americas should build a common human rights agenda to be included in every hemispheric agreement, along with mechanisms and institutions to ensure full implementation and enforcement. This agenda should promote the broadest definition of human rights, covering civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights, gender equity, and rights relating to indigenous peoples and communities.

Environment: Hemispheric agreements should allow governments to channel investment towards environmentally sustainable economic activities, while establishing plans for the gradual "internalization" (taking into account) of the social and environmental costs of unsustainable production and consumption.

Labour: Hemispheric agreements should include provisions that guarantee the basic rights of working men and women, ensure proper assistance for adjustment as markets are opened up, and promote the improvement of working and living standards of workers and their families.

Immigration: Economic and financial agreements should include agreements regarding migrant workers. These agreements should recognize the diversity in immigration-related situations in different countries by allowing for variation in immigration policies, but also facilitating funding for programs designed to improve employment opportunities in areas that are major net exporters of labor. At the same time, governments should ensure uniform application of their national labour rights for all workers—regardless of immigration status—and severely penalize employers that violate these rights.

Role of the State: Hemispheric agreements should not undermine the ability of the nation state to meet its citizens' social and economic needs. At the same time, the goal of national economic regulations should not be traditional protectionism, but ensuring that private sector economic activities promote fair and sustainable development. Likewise, agreements should allow nation states to maintain public sector corporations and procurement policies that support national development goals while fighting government corruption.

Investment: Hemispheric rules should encourage foreign investment that generates high-quality jobs, sustainable production, and economic stability, while allowing governments to screen out investments that make no net contribution to development, especially speculative capital flows. Citizens' groups and all levels of government should have the right to sue investors who violate investment rules.

Finance: To promote economic stability, agreements should establish a tax on foreign exchange transactions that would also generate development funds, while allowing governments to institute taxes on speculative profits, require that portfolio investments remain in the country for a specified period, and provide incentives for direct and productive investments. To help level the playing field, low-income nations should be allowed to renegotiate foreign debts to reduce principal owed, lower interest rates, and lengthen repayment terms.

Intellectual Property: Agreements should protect the rights and livelihoods of farmers, fishing folk, and communities that act as guardians of biodiversity, and not allow corporate interests to undermine these rights. Rules should exclude all life forms from patentability and protect the collective intellectual property of local communities and peoples especially with regard to ensure that copyright laws protect artists, musicians and other cultural workers, and not just the publishing and entertainment industries.

Sustainable Energy Development: A hemispheric agreement should allow members to file complaints against countries that try to achieve commercial advantage at the expense of sustainability. International agencies should cooperate to create regulatory incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy and promote related technologies, while eliminating policies that subsidize or encourage fossil fuel sales, consumption and use.

Agriculture: To ensure food security, countries should have the right to protect or exclude staple foods from trade agreements. Hemispheric measures should also support upward harmonization of financial assistance for agriculture (as a percentage of GDP), strengthened protections for agricultural labourers, and traditional rights of indigenous peoples to live off ancestral lands.

Market Access: Access for foreign products and investments should be evaluated and defined within the framework of national development plans. Timetables for tariff reduction should be accompanied by programs to ensure that domestic industries become competitive during the transition. With regard to non-tariff barriers, measures are necessary to ensure that they reflect legitimate social interests rather than protections for specific companies.

Enforcement and Dispute Resolution: If the proposed rules and standards are to be meaningful, they must be accompanied by strong mechanisms for dispute resolution and enforcement that are focused on reducing inequalities and based on fair and democratic processes. Agreements may also include special safeguards for countries suffering as the result of surges in imports.