AMSTERDAM, 17 October 2001 -- The United Kingdom is home to a particularly influential services industry lobby, which operates through an organisation called "International Financial Services, London (IFSL)". Two IFSL working groups, the Liberalisation of Trade in Services (LOTIS) Committee and the High-Level LOTIS Group,constitute a veritable corporate-state alliance.
Based upon internal minutes of LOTIS Committee and High-Level LOTIS Group meetings,the GATSwatch research paper "Liberalisation Of Trade in Services: Corporate Power at Work" <http://www.gatswatch.org/LOTIS/> shows how senior UK government officials work closely with their business 'counterparts' to promote the interests of the UK financial services industry. The research paper, which is publicly released today, reveals how UK government officials have allied with business in planning a campaign to defeat civil society opposition against the WTO services negotiations earlier this year.
The unique source material, which was discovered accidentally on an unlinked, but publicly accessible part of the former IFSL web site, gives an unprecedented insight in the day-to-day working of the LOTIS corporate-state alliance. Within the LOTIS Committee and High-Level Group, the distinction between public and private has become completely blurred. The LOTIS structures provide a private forum where government and business discuss strategies for ongoing WTO negotiations on liberalisation of trade in services. This allows the UK financial services industry an unjustified control over large parts of the UK trade policy agenda.
Example quote from minutes LOTIS Committee meeting 22 February 2001: "Matthew Lownds [Foreign & Commonwealth Office] welcomed the private sector's help in countering the anti-GATS arguments. He noted that the campaign by the World Development Movement in particular was leading to a broadening of concerns. If business was to help convince the public, a case was needed based on the development-related benefits which the GATS can bring. He also pointed to the need to coordinate business responses to the NGOs allegations. Malcolm McKinnon [DTI] said that the pro-GATS case was vulnerable when the NGOs asked for proof of where the economic benefits of liberalisation lay. Christopher Ehrke [Linklaters & Alliance] said that his firm was very willing to be involved in the exercise. He felt that some of the points made in the IFSL paper needed to be more punchy and floated the idea of creating a sub-group to take the work for-ward. Matthew Goodman [Goldman Sachs International] said that the exercise should be taken forward in close consultation with the WTO Secretariat, which had already produced some useful material on the matter."
Full research paper is available on <http://www.gatswatch.org/LOTIS/>
Report's Conclusions The close links and close co-operation between business and government in International Financial Services, London and its LOTIS Committee and High-Level LOTIS Group explain why UK government policy on trade in services, and in particular the preparations for the GATS 2000 negotiations, are so biased towards a corporate market-opening agenda.
While it is useful and justified for governments to take business concerns into account when formulating trade policy, privileged co-operative arrangements between business and government does not belong in a truly democratic policy-making process.
Therefore, the UK government is urged to: - discontinue its involvement in International Financial Services London and the LOTIS Committee and High-Level LOTIS Group. Similar corporate-state alliances in other policy areas should also be dismantled.- give high priority to the development of balanced and truly democratic mechanisms for civil society input in trade policy preparation.- publish all minutes and other documents relating to the government's involvement in the LOTIS/IFSL corporate-state alliance. - reassess all current UK trade policy and reorient it to serve the common interest and to foster sustainable development all around the world. ______________________________________________________________________ __
U.S., European and Japanese Service Industries Call Jointly For New WTO Round Service Industry Representatives Point to $1.9 Trillion Benefit for the Global Economy
The world's three leading service industry organizations -- the Coalition of Service Industries (CSI), the European Services Forum (ESF), and the Japan Services Network (JSN) -- call on their Governments to make necessary preparations to launch a new Round of trade negotiations at the Qatar WTO Ministerial in November 2001. The three organisations consider that a substantial agreement on services will most likely be achieved in the context of a wider and broad based WTO Round. The new Round will build upon the significant success already achieved in Geneva during the March "stocktaking" session, which resulted in the adoption of the GATS 2000 negotiating guidelines and procedures by the Special Session of the Council of Trade in Services on 28 March 2001. The three organizations believe a new Round will help motivate success in the "request/offer" phase of the services negotiations, expected to begin soon after the Ministerial. The volume of trade in services is already significant, amounting to $1.35 trillion in cross-border transactions in 1999. Services account for a large percentage of both developed and developing country economies, representing 51% to 77% of GDP. Services play a key role in creating investment in essential infrastructure of all economies, and in contributing to employment across the world. The liberalization process will encourage efficient service industries, a fundamental component of attracting inward direct investment and promoting competition. Manufacturers also benefit from innovative and efficient services. If barriers to trade in goods and services were completely eliminated, world economic welfare would increase an additional $1.9 trillion, benefiting developed and developing countries alike. A broader WTO Round should be able to reduce barriers to trade in goods and services by one-third, which would still add approximately $613 billion to the world economy.