The Corporate Threat to Democratic Regulation of Our Services: the WTO’s “Domestic Regulation” Agreement
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jun 8 - Jun 8
18:00 - 20:00 GMT
Nurse to patient ratios; zoning laws governing the siting of toxic waste dumps; the number of contaminants allowed in our drinking water; the licensing fees on casinos; the safety of our transportation system; the cultural content of our media.
All of these aspects of our health, education, environment, financial stability, mobility, and everyday commerce are affected by regulation of public and private services domestically. There are crucial public interest issues at stake, and workers, consumers, local residents, and communities often face an uphill battle in ensuring a public interest outcome during regulatory or legislative battles.
Big corporations are now attempting an end-run around the democratic process, by attempting to gain an obscure agreement in the WTO to cement rights for foreign corporations to have rights to intervene into the democratic process governing regulation of services we use everyday of our lives. This agreement would have a particularly negative impact on workers in all services sectors, and would especially jeopardize quality accessible public services.
This webinar sponsored by PSI will reveal the origins and implications of a little-known “Domestic Regulation Disciplines,” a new deal announced in the WTO in December 2022. Learn about what you can do to stop this further entrenchment of corporate control over our lives.
Date: June 8
Hour: 3pm San Jose; San Salvador / 4pm Bogotá / 5pm Santiago; Ottawa; Washington DC / 6pm Buenos Aires; Sao Paulo / 11pm Geneva
Interpretation Spanish - English will be provided.
This session is also cosponsored by UNI Américas.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WNkDJE3B9YSxOTMnfgMoscg
Speakers:
Jane Kelsey, Professor Emeritus of Law of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and author of “Briefing note on Services Domestic Regulation JSI text of 27 September 2021 (INF/SDR/1)”
Kinda Mohamadieh, Senior Researcher at the Third World Network (TWN) in Geneva, and author of “Reference paper on services domestic regulations: Overview of main content and regulatory implications”
For more background information see: https://ourworldisnotforsale.net/services
Sponsored by the Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) global network and Public Services International (PSI