New York Times article (December 2, 1999)

[Thiru Balasubramaniam <thiru@cptech.org>]

These are some excerpts from David E. Sanger's piece in the New York Times (Dec 2, 1999) about Clinton's speech in Seattle in which he mentioned easing US trade
restrictions that prevented developing countries from having access to AIDS drugs.

Thiru Balasubramaniam
Consumer Project on Technology


http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/120299wto-talks.html
                                                                                         
                                                                                          

---------------------Begin------------------------------------------------------------------

              December 2, 1999


              THE OVERVIEW

              In Stormy Seattle, Clinton Chides World Trade
              Body

                             

              By DAVID E. SANGER

                    SEATTLE -- With Seattle's streets locked down by the police and
                    National Guard, President Clinton delivered two impassioned pleas
                    Wednesday for nations of the world to use trade agreements to protect
              the rights of laborers and the environment, and delivered a pointed attack on
              the World Trade Organization for the secrecy of its operations. 

	<SNIP>
              In another bid to show that he was listening to the protesters who gathered for
              the meeting, which ends Friday. Clinton announced two initiatives to help the
              poorest nations, mostly in Africa, which have complained that the global
              trading system victimizes their populations. The most important was relaxation
              of American trade rules that the president said would make it less expensive
              for African nations to purchase and distribute drugs that fight AIDS, including
              AZT. 

              Until recently the United States had backed major drug companies, which
              have insisted on strict control of the distribution of their drugs, often at high
              prices. Wednesday the administration said it would allow nations to buy those
              drugs through "parallel distributors" in other developing countries, where the
              same drugs are often available more cheaply. But it is unclear how much of a
              difference the change will make for people with AIDS in Africa, most of whom
              are desperately poor. 

	<SNIP>

              Clinton's strongest comments focused on one of the greatest complaints of
              environmental and labor groups: that the World Trade Organization is far too
              secretive, banning spectators and reporters from its court, and conducting
              almost all of its business behind closed doors. 

              "I think it's imperative that the W.T.O. become more open and accessible,"
              Clinton told the ministers at a lunch Wednesday. "If the W.T.O. expects to have
              public support grow for our endeavors, the public must see and hear and, in a
              very real sense, actually join in the deliberations. That's the only way they
              can know the process is fair, and know their concerns were at least
              considered." 

              "I know there's a lot of controversy about this," he said, alluding to European
              and Asian nations that have argued that openness would make the trade
              group more political, and risk embarrassment for some governments as
              documents about their most politically sensitive industries became public. 

              Clinton also argued that developing nations should not be concerned that the
              United States would use the imposition of labor standards on other countries
              for economic advantage. He said, "I freely acknowledge that, if we had a
              certain kind of rule, then protectionists in wealthy countries could use things
              like wage differentials to keep poorer countries down," by arguing that "you're
              not paying your people enough." 

              The answer, he said, "is to write the rules in such a way that people in our
              position, the wealthier countries, can't do that, can't use this as an instrument
              of protectionism," adding, "We can find a way to do this." 






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