DJ Intl Activist Group Says Corp Lobbying Sways Trade Talks
CARACAS (AP)--A new report from an international activist group claims that global trade talks are being dominated by corporate lobbyists at the expense of the world's poor.
The ActionAid International report, timed to coincide with the beginning of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said there has been "a worldwide explosion of corporate lobbying contributing to unfair trade rules" in recent years.
Activists with ActionAid, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, were in Venezuela to present their findings at this week's World Social Forum, held in protest against the concurrent market-friendly World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The agency's report estimates that companies spend as much as $1.2 billion annually to fund more than 10,000 lobbyists in the European Union.
Lobbyists outnumber congressional lawmakers 30 to 1 in Washington, D.C., the report said.
The result is that "corporations are hijacking such important negotiations as trade negotiations," Adriano Campolina, ActionAid's Latin America director, said Tuesday.
Campolina said lobbyists representing powerful food companies have pushed terms that allow heavily subsidized U.S. and European food products to enter developing countries at the expense of small food producers.
"Globalization is excluding people around the world," Campolina said. |
