Citizen Trade
Policy Commission to hold second Public Hearing on CAFTA and Other
International Trade Agreements
USM
The Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) may come up
for a vote in Congress as early as May, 2005. The Citizen Trade Policy Commission gives
Have you lost your job to outsourcing? Has your community been devastated by a
plant closing and moving south? Are you
concerned about access to healthcare?
Do you want to make sure
Did you know all these questions are potentially “trade” issues?
Since the World Trade Organization was established and NAFTA took effect in 1994, trade negotiations not only address border issues such as tariffs and quotas, but also attempt to limit government laws and policies seen as “non-tariff barriers to trade.” As such, federal, state, and local government measures that protect public health and the environment, or promote sustainable development and access to healthcare, can all be targeted for elimination.
Last year, the Maine Fair Trade Campaign campaigned with unions and other allies to win passage of the Maine Jobs, Trade and Democracy Act. The law created the nation’s first state citizen-based trade policy commission to monitor the impact of trade agreements on our laws, policies, and economy, and to provide a mechanism for citizens to voice their concerns and recommendations designed to protect Maine's jobs, business environment, laws from any negative impact of trade agreements. The commission includes 17 voting members representing a broad spectrum of interests and five non-voting members from state governmental departments. The Commission has established working groups to investigate the impact of trade on economic development and labor, state healthcare policies, and natural resource protection and the environment.
The Commission needs to hear from you! Its next public
hearing will take place
The Commission will relay people's questions and concerns to
For more information about the state legislature’s Citizen Trade Policy Commission go to:
http://www.state.me.us/legis/opla/citpol.htm
The Commission held its first public hearing in
http://www.mainefairtrade.org/Feb3forumbangorreportback.htm