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How Corporate
Polluters Use
State--Investor
State
Provisions of Free
Trade Agreements
and Bilateral
Investment Treaties
To Undermine
Environmental
Protection www.gjae.org
 a AE
PRINCIPLES
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 ÷ at are Free Trade
Agreements?
˜Tariffs and Quotas

˜ Investment Rules

˜Intellectual Property

˜ Procurement Rules
 Free Trade Agreements:
Core Environmental ustice, Ecological,
and Animal Rig ts Concerns
- Procurement rules undermine green, local, & umane purc asing

- State ± Investor provisions undermine environmental protection

- State-state c allenges to non-tariff barriers to trade vs. import bans

on unsustainable & in umane products

- Agricultural liberalization expands industrial and animal-based

agriculture

- Transportation± roads, fuel, roadkill, resources for ve icles

- Live animal exports (dolp ins, fig ting cocks)

- lack of indigenous consultation

- Outsourcing and offs oring to escape protective regulations

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- Corporations
allowed to sue
governments directly
for profit loss under
Investor Protections
(C apter 11).

-Agriculture Included!
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NAFTA C apter
11 arants New
Protections to
Corporate

 
Y Investors
§etalclad sues §exico
- In t e mid-1990s, t e US firm, §etalclad,
attempted to build an incredibly environmentally
azardous landfill in San Luis Patosi, §exico but
was prevented by repeated political opposition.
- §etalclad sued
§exico in 1997
under C apter 11
of NAFTA,
winning t e case
and over $16
million dollars in
compensation for
lost profits.
Et yl Corp Neurotoxin Protected
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A group of Canadian cattlemen and feedlot owners soug t compensation for losses incurred
w en t e U.S. alted imports of live Canadian cattle after t e discovery of a case of BSE
(mad cow disease) in Canada in §ay 2003.
4
 Claim dismissed on procedural grounds. Tribunal ruled t at t e cattlemen did
not ave standing to bring t e claim because t ey did not ave an investment in t e U.S., nor
did t ey intend to invest in t e U.S.
 §et anex sues t e US

- California p ased out use

of §BTE in fuel after finding
it was contaminating water.
- §et anex, maker of §TBE,
sued under C apter 11 of
NAFTA, tying up t e State of
California for over 7 years
before finally losing t e case
in 2005
T e
alamis
T reat
- alamis aold, a Canadian mining firm, sued t e
United States in 2003 for $50 million under C apter
11 of NAFTA, because t eir open pit mine was
refused.
- Several people ave been killed after protesting
alamis's mine in auatemala, and if t e country
attempts to stop t e corporation's corruption, it could
face a similar lawsuit.
   

 

 



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A Canadian company is seeking damages over t e 1998 U.S.
Tobacco Settlement, w ic requires tobacco companies to
contribute to state escrow funds to elp defray medical costs of
smokers. urisdictional ruling dismissed some of t e claims as
time-barred, but permitted ot er claims relating to cigarettes sold
on Indian reservations to proceed to a earing on t e merits.

  
  




 

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T anks to NAFTA±
, Canada will
soon be mine!!!

S.D. §eyers, a service company focused on transformers, c allenged Canadian

ban of PCB exports t at complied wit multilateral environmental treaty on toxic-
toxic-
waste trade.

* Expropriation claim dismissed.

* Claims of discrimination up eld and qualified as a violation of t e ³minimum

standard of treatment´ foreign investors must be provided under NAFTA.

* Foreign firm¶s ³market s are´ in anot er country could be considered a NAFTA-

NAFTA-
protected investment.

* Canada petitioned to ave t e NAFTA tribunal decision overturned in a

Canadian Federal Court, but t e court dismissed t e case.
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Probable Carcinogen, linked to
melanomas, liver cancer, gall
bladder cancer, biliary tract cancer,
gastrointestinal tract cancer, and
brain cancer, and may be linked to
breast cancer.

Acute toxic effects - irritation of t e

nose and lungs, skin irritations suc
as severe acne (c loracne) and
ras es, and eye problems.
Developmental effects - C ildren born wit
significant neurological and motor control
problems, including lowered IQ and poor s ort-term memory, decreased birt
weig t
and ead size, and psyc omotor and be avioral impairment.
Disrupted ormone function -
s ortened menstrual cycles,
reduced sperm counts, altered sex
organs, premature puberty,
c anged sex ratios of c ildren.

Immune system and t yroid effects

± PCBs upset t yroid balance, may
affect growt , be avioral &
psyc omotor development. PCBs
bind to receptors t at control
immune system function, disturbing
t e amounts of some immune
system elements like lymp ocytes
and T cells. PCB levels tied to an
increased prevalence of ear
infections and c ickenpox and wit
lowered immune system function,
and t us greater susceptibility to
disease
*




 

 
 Pesticide
§anufacturer
Sues Canada
U.S. c emical company
Crompton/C emtura, a producer of
t e pesticide lindane, a azardous
persistent organic pollutant, is suing
for $100 million, c allenging a
voluntary agreement between
manufacturers and t e Canadian
government to restrict production.
Claims involve discrimination,
performance requirements,
expropriation and a violation of t e
³minimum standard of treatment´
rule.
 

  


 
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Lindane is a persistent
organic pollutant: it is
relatively long-lived in t e
environment, it is
transported long distances
by natural processes like
global distillation, and it can
bioaccumulate in food
c ains, t oug it is rapidly
eliminated w en exposure
is discontinued.
 T e production of lindane generates large
amounts of waste exac lorocyclo exane
isomers, and it is estimated t at "every ton of
lindane manufactured produces about 9 tons of
toxic waste."
÷ en lindane is used in
agriculture, an estimated 12-
30% of it volatilizes into t e
atmosp ere, w ere it is
subject to long-range
transport and can be
deposited by rainfall.
Lindane in soil can leac to
surface and even ground
water and can
bioaccumulate in t e food
c ain. However,
biotransformation and
elimination are relatively
rapid w en exposure is
discontinued. [12] §ost
exposure of t e general
population to lindane as
resulted from agricultural
uses and t e intake of
foods, suc as produce,
meats and milk, produced
from treated agricultural
commodities
In 2009, governments around t e world added t e lindane to t e list of
c emicals targeted for global ban under t e Stock olm Convention
(POPs treaty). All agricultural uses of lindane will be p ased out under
t e treaty, and any production of t e neurotoxic pesticide is banned.
P armaceutical uses for control of lice and scabies will (using existing
stocks) are sc eduled for full p ase out by 2014.
 So Crompton/
C emtura
dropped t e suit,
rig t...?
³At t e end of t e day, C emtura seeks to old t e [Canadian Pest
§anagement Regulatory Agency] responsible for t e fact t at it can no
longer profit from t e sale of a toxic c emical t at as been
internationally banned based on demonstrated ealt and
environmental concerns´
-- Canada¶s counter memorial.
³÷ en you read t roug a lot of t ese cases, you find somet ing
missing ± namely common sense.´

± im §ays, Sierra Club Responsible Trade Program


  
  ±

Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of t e U.S. Dow C emical

Company is suing Canada for $2 million under C apter 11 for
losses it alleged were caused by a Quebec provincial ban on t e
sale and certain uses of lawn pesticides containing t e active
ingredient 2,4-D. Ot er Canadian provinces are considering
similar bans.

 
- B opal disaster

- Birt defects from Agent

Orange in Vietnam

-
 Toxic 2,
2,4-D
Symptoms of 2,4-D poisoning in exposed people include irritation and inflammation of eyes and skin,
ives, nausea, vomiting, t roat irritation, eadac e, dizziness, coug ing, and difficulty breat ing.

New studies indicate t at 2,4-D reduces fertility in several ways. 2,4-D exposure is associated wit low
sperm counts.
2,4-D (and t e entire family of p enoxy erbicides) is classified as possibly carcinogenic by t e
International Agency for Researc on Cancer. Studies of exposed farmers support t is classification.

According to t e most recent data collected by t e U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, some 2,4-D
is contaminated wit 2,3,7,8-TCDD, a potent dioxin.
§onitoring by t e U.S. aeological Survey s owed t at 2,4-D is frequently found in rivers and streams. It
is also often measured in air samples.
2,4-D causes genetic damage in plants in amounts too small to cause visible damage to t e plants.D
causes genetic damage in plants in amounts too small to cause visible damage to t e plants.

§onitoring by t e U.S. aeological Survey s owed t at 2,4-D is frequently found in rivers and streams. It
is also often measured in air samples.
2,4--D use on lawns is linked
2,4
wit an increased risk
of cancer in dogs.
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Tar sands mining is licensed to use twice

t e amount of fres water t at t e entire
city of Calgary uses in a year.

-At least 90% of t e fres water used in

t e oil sands ends up in ends up in tailing
ponds so toxic t at propane cannons are
used to keep ducks from landing.
- Processing t e oil sands uses enoug
natural gas in a day to eat 3 million
omes.
- T e toxic tailing ponds are considered
one of t e largest uman-made
structures in t e world.
-T e ponds span 50 square kilometers
and can be seen from space.
-Producing a barrel of oil from t e oil
sands produces t ree times more
green ouse gas emissions t an a barrel
of conventional oil.
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 Pacific Rim vs.
El Salvador
Canadian mining company,
Pacific Rim is already bringing
a law suit against El Salvador,
because El Salvador cancelled
t eir permit to mine to conduct
open pit cyanide leac gold
mining near El Salvador's
major river, t e country's
primary source of water..
 a AE and Trade ustice NY §etro activists give away mock cyanide
tainted water in front of t e Canadian Consulate in New York City on t e
first day of earings on Pacific Rim's case against El Salvador at t e
÷orld Bank's International Center for t e Settlement of Trade Disputes,
w ic arbitrates DR-CAFTA cases.
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 Pelosi's Big Deal!
Top Contributers in 2006 Total$

1) Occidental Petroleum 17k

2) Kleiner, Perkins, et al 16.7k

3) Intl. Brot er ood of Electrical ÷orkers 15k

4) S eet §etal ÷orkers Union 15k

5) Time ÷arner 13.2k

Occidental is notorious for poisoning t e Peruvian Amazon rainforest t roug its oil
extraction operations and refusing to fund an adequate cleanup.
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House ÷ays and §eans C air C arlie Rangel grabs corporate cas and
colludes wit an Occidental Petroleum corporate lobbyist to pass Cowboy
Bus 's US-Peru Free Trade Agreement in a Trade ustice NY §etro street
t eater performance in front of Representative Rangel's office.
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