Ratni Bai Khatik, from a backward caste and being a girl, did not receive an education but was instead married at 13, She soon left her husband, however, who was of an immoral character, and went back to live with her parents Ratni Bai attended a meeting held by the Centre for Human Development (CUTS) and expressed her desire to collaborate in projects in Keer Kheda (Chittorgarh District, Rajasthan State). Her first initiative was to create a school for the children of her village taking advantage of a government announcement of opportunities to open self-governing schools. Her careful monitoring during construction of the school ensured that it is the only school in the area with a proper construction. She visited parents to motivate them to send their children, especially girls, to school functions. Ratni disseminated education on health and on the environment with the result that people now boil or filter their drinking water and take care to preserve this resource. Thanks to her efforts, health personnel pay more frequent visits to the village, and medicines are made available in a timely manner. She has also formed self-help groups for income generating activities and helped them obtain credit from the bank. Ratni Bai has become a public figure who villagers and even government officials consult.

Globalisation: Need for introspection!

Panel Discussion "Globalisation: Where do we stand?

27 June 2001, New Delhi, India

New Delhi: 27.06.2001

The ongoing economic reform process in the country is irreversible and the government will keep on supporting it to ensure that the benefits of globalisation reach to the poorest of the poor said Mr. Muni Lall, the Union Minster of State for labour and employment. He was speaking at a panel discussion "Globalisation: Where do we stand?" organised by CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics &Environment at Indian International Centre, New Delhi in this week (27th June).

The other prominent panellists were Mr. Sharad Joshi, Chairman, Task force on agriculture, Government of India, Mr. Suman Bery, Director General, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi and Mr. Jagdish Shettigar, Member, Prime Minster's Economic Advisory Council.

The government is doing its best to support domestic industry to become globally competitive. "But it should be clearly understood that we can no longer afford to give undue protection to inefficient and mismanaged enterprises" stressed the minister.

Responding to concerns voiced by participants regarding ill effects of globalisation Sharad Joshi said that the time has come for us to introspect and analyse our own domestic policies. He said that "producers have a social responsibility to provide low cost and good quality products to consumers, who the have been neglected in the past". Globalistion enhances consumer welfare, as in a highly competitive market the consumers get the best product at lower price. Moreover, it has provided Indian consumers with a variety of choices.

Speaking on the occasion Jagdish Shettigar criticised Indian trade negotiators for their shortsightedness while negotiating some of the GATT/WTO agreements. According to him "we have sacrificed a lot in Agreement on Agriculture". India accepted lower bound rate for agricultural products such as soybean when we had the option to impose higher import duties, which ultimately proved to be harmful to the domestic producers, he said.

"We should also bear the possible risks of globalisation in mind. However if pursued with proper planning, globalisation and liberalisation can do wonders to poverty eradication efforts" cautioned Suman Bery of NCAER.

In his concluding remarks as moderator to the Discussion, the minister said "globalisation is going to create more and more opportunities for different sections of the society. Further, the industry should not look up on the government for each and every malady and should stand on their own feet". He however said that the government is making special efforts to help the domestic industry sectors, which are facing serious adjustmental problems in the transitional period in the context of the WTO Agreements and also the domestic trade reforms.

For more details please contact:

K. S. Sajeev/Sandeep Singh

Em: cutsjpr@sancharnet.in

Cabinet Nod on Competition Bill Welcomed

New Delhi: 27.06.2001

Though clearance of competition Bill by the Cabinet is a welcome move, much work has to be done to inform the public and lawmakers on the issue for a healthy debate as well as further improvements.

That was the central message, which emerged at a Symposium entitled "Existing & Proposed Competition Law of India", organized on 27th June, jointly by the National Council of Applied Economic Research and Jaipur-based Consumer Unity & Trust Society.

At theoretical level it was felt that presently there is no standardized relationship between competition policy, competition law and competition authority in India, creating high expectation on the proposed regime to achieve such relationship.

"MRTP Act is not at all dealing with competition issues since 1991," commented Mr. Naresh Mathur, a Supreme Court lawyer. "To call it a competition authority, would be a misnomer," he added.

While rejecting the existing regime in the liberalizing and globalizing economy, several lacunae were pointed out in the draft Bill that was made public a few months back. While speaking on ‘exemptions,’ Professor Rakesh Basant of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad was critical of the fact that the Bill has left the matter solely on the Government to notify, without proper guidelines or directions. Prof. Basant, who had done a comprehensive study on competition issues for the Government in early 2000, opined that pre-notification of all mergers should be necessary, at least for maintaining the data base, even if all of them are not examined.

Focusing on ‘cartels’ being dealt under the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, Mr. G R Bhatia, Additional Director General (Investigation & Registration), spelt out weaknesses in the Act. It was suggested that to prevent and crack cartels, high fines and criminal liability coupled with leniency programs for the firms and protection to the whistleblowers is sine qua non and should be reflected in the new law. In the MRTP Act there is even no mention of the word ‘cartel’.

Furthermore, based on the past experiences, the participants were critical about the high retirement age for the chairperson and other commissioners, which could open doors for the appointment of retired judges and civil servants. "That would be counter-productive, as most such appointees will have little understanding of economic issue in a modern context, and can do more harm than good in fostering competition," said a participant.

Also a prima facie case was made out for addressing flexibility under TRIPs Agreement in the new law, particularly that under Articles 6, 31 and 40 (of TRIPs), i.e. provisions for parallel imports, compulsory licensing and control of anti-competitive practices in contractual licenses respectively. "This has not been addressed in the new bill at all," said Ujjwal Kumar, researcher with CUTS. "When the issue of TRIPs is so hot and current, the framers of the new competition law seems to have been sleeping".

Earlier, inaugurating the Symposium, Dr. Suman Bery, Director General of NCAER, asked the participants to consider carefully the risk of misuse of the new competition law to harass the private sector, despite the best intentions of the framers of the legislation. An example of such an unintended outcome is the evolution of anti-dumping measures in international trade. Citing the Microsoft case, he further highlighted how anti-trust concerns had evolved from a ‘concern for concentration’ to ‘concern for impact on innovation’. Increase in freedom of entry (or contestability) was seen as the best check on concentration and exercise of monopoly power.

The Symposium was a part of a project on comparative study of competition regimes of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia, being funded by the Department for International Development, UK and implemented by CUTS.

The Indian component of the Study, done by NCAER, shows that the Commission is mostly staffed by either retirees in the judiciary and civil service or government officials on deputation and lacks significantly in technical competence. At present, apart from the Chairman, the Commission has four members as against the sanctioned strength of eight. There are seven professional and 87 support staff against the sanctioned strength of 10 and 95 respectively. Furthermore, out of the average annual budget of about 2 crore, around 66% goes towards salaries, 31% contributes to establishment cost and 2% is travel cost.

No new investigation with respect to monopolistic trade practices (MTPs) has been launched by the Commission since 1997. At present the MRTP Commission has about 5000 pending cases, of which, eight cases relate to MTPs and of the remaining, around 55% relate to unfair trade practices while 45% are related to restrictive trade practices. There are about 125 pending cases with the Commission, which were initiated between 1983 and 1990. However, due to inefficient data management system of the Commission, the field researcher was not able to obtain enough data. It was recommended that the new regime should have a better system to maintain administrative data as well as data for the purpose of various economic analyses involved in the decision making.

Some of the other drawbacks of the existing regime such as lack of independence, no clear definition of competition offences, non-proactive authority, lack of flexibility, lack of teeth, conflict between the investigative and judicial wing, absence of merger regulation etc., surfaced during the discussions. It was hoped that these drawbacks would be taken care of in the new regime.

For more information please contact

Ujjwal Kumar/Anjali Bansal,

Email: cuts@cuts.org

'Gandhiji’ led a March to Commemorate the World Environment Day

Jaipur: 05.06.2001

A little boy attired as and resembling Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, led a march on the occasion of the World Environment Day. ‘Gandhiji’ presented pollution masks to traffic policemen at various crossings between the Ajmeri Gate and Gandhi Circle, University Road. Braving the heat, a good number of school children, carrying posters, banners etc participated in the event. Leaflets were distributed as well. Parents, showing citizens’ concerns for making this world a better place to live in, also accompanied them.

The event was organised by the Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), a public interest non-governmental organisation (NGO), with its headquarters at Jaipur. The objectives were to educate the people of Jaipur on the ill-effects of environmental pollution, generate environmental awareness, invoke a sense of responsibility among the concerned citizens of Jaipur and provoke debates among the common people in their quest for a better environment.

“We need personalities like Gandhiji to save our planet from any further environmental degradation and ensuring people’s right to a healthy environment,” said Rajnish Jayaswal of CUTS, while addressing the participants at the Gandhi Circle, University Road.

For further information, please contact:
Mr. Rajnish Jayaswal/Ms. Alka Gupta
E-mail: cutsjpr@sancharnet.in

South Asian Parliamentarians to form
caucus to address atmospheric issues

New Delhi, May 13: “There is a great danger for South Asia to be marginalized on global atmospheric debates and negotiations. I strongly feel that the time has come to look at the various viable initiatives and an important one would be to create a caucus of South Asian Parliamentarians to bring atmospheric concerns separately into public policy debate” said Mabel Rebello, Member of Parliament from India.

She was speaking at the South Asian Consultation on Atmospheric Issues organised by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) and South Asia Watch on Trade Environment and Economics (SAWTEE) at New Delhi recently.

The Consultation was organised to find out how five South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have responded to atmospheric issues like ozone depletion and climate change. Each of these countries have made certain commitments to phase out ODS (Ozone Depleting Substance) under the Montreal Protocol in several sectors like the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector.

The Consultation also took stock of how much these commitments have been fulfilled till date. The Consultation also took stock of the initiatives taken by each these countries in reduction of emission of greenhouse gas under the Kyoto Protocol.

The build up of greenhouse gases, responsible for global warming, is continuing at a disastrous rate and if immediate steps are not taken then the situation is likely to worsen. The Kyoto Protocol puts an obligation on developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change.

At present the Kyoto Protocol is under uncertainty with no political agreement being reached last year during the 6th Conference of Parties. None of the five South Asian countries have any binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emission. As climate change is a global problem it was felt that each of these countries should be asked to take more initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaking at the inaugural, Suresh Prabhu, Power Minister of India explained the how ozone depletion and global warming could adversely affect the agricultural sector in this region. He said that atmospheric issue is not a rich man’s issue, as thought by strong lobby operating in this region. It is as important an issue like eradication of poverty, hunger and raising the standard of living of the people. People must understand that our very survival is threatened due to damage caused to the environment. If we fail to survive, then all other issues relating to human development become irrelevant so we need to take environmental issue very seriously.

“Often Parliamentarians are not adequately on informed on these issues so force the desired legislative changes needed to address these issues better,” said Abdul Moin Khan, Member of Parliament from Bangladesh.

Prabhu also suggested that there is a need to institutionalise the present effort put by CUTS, UNEP and SAWTEE. Prabhu proposed that there is a need to build three separate fora: Forum of Parliamentarians, Forum of NGOs, and Forum of Media. These fora should work together to discuss environmental problems in the South Asian region so as to develop a common strategy to address them collectively.

“Developing countries need financial as well as technical help in order to meet their international environmental commitments so we need to team up and ensure that we get this financial and technical help from the developed countries mainly responsible for the pollution,” said Mr. Hemkumara Nanayakkara, Member of Parliament from Sri Lanka.

Deliberations took place on the present measures of the five South Asian Countries on Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) phase-out and the actions that have been taken by these countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Working groups consisting of Members of Parliament, Ozone Unit Officials, Scientists and NGOs from five South Asian countries discussed a whole range of issues pertaining to Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol as also the role of parliamentarians in the region to support the implementation of these protocols. The discussions can be broadly catagorised into i) role of information, ii) role of legal and institutional mechanisms, iii) imperative of regional cooperation and iv) setting up of multi-stakeholder forum at national and regional level.

As atmospheric issues recognise no borders and boundaries, participants stressed the role of regional cooperation to combat environmental problems. Environmental problems have an ambivalent scope of both triggering conflicts and generating peace and cooperation. Participants felt that existing regional institutions like SAARC at Kathmandu and SACEP at Colombo should be strengthened and revitalised with necessary resources to kick-start this kind of regional cooperation.

Participants also agreed on the need to make efforts to take local initiatives to deploy adequate human and financial resources on their own at national levels in order to prove their commitments and initiative.

The South Asian Consultation drew several representatives including Members of Parliament, National Ozone Unit officials, academicia and environmental groups from five South Asian countries Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The event not only created awareness among key parliamentarians but also evaluated the “on the ground” situation in each country and outline appropriate policy responses for addressing atmospheric issues under the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol.

All the participating Parliamentarians unanimously agreed to form caucus to address atmospheric issues.

MEHTA APPOINTED MEMBER OF TRADE BODY

Jaipur 4 May, The Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India has renominated Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General of CUTS, Jaipur as a member of the Advisory Committee on International Trade.

This is a high powered 17-member committee chaired by the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Mr Murasoli Maran. Its role is to advise the government on WTO matters, international trade policy and domestic policy issues.

The Committee assumes great importance in light of the current negotiations at the WTO and the possibility of a new round of trade negotiations being launched at Doha, Qatar in November 2001.

The body include the Commerce Secretary, Mr Prabir Sengupta, the noted agricultural scientist Dr M S Swaminathan, Dr R A Mashelkar, Director General, Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, former Commerce Secretaries: Mr Abid Hussain and Mr P P Prabhu, former foreign secretary, Mr Muchkund Dubey, Mr Tarun Das, Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry and Mr Amit Mitra, Secretary General of FICCI among other eminent persons.

Noted economists like Dr V R Panchmukhi and Dr Isher Ahluwalia, and social activist: Ms Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign are also members of the committee.

WTO Rules and Market Access: Need for A Proactive Agenda

Jaipur, 29th April.

"We need to go beyond 'technical assistance' if developing and least developed countries are to benefit from the multilateral trading system," said John Cuddy, Director, Division on International Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Cuddy was speaking at the closing session of an international workshop on "Negotiating Agenda for Market Access: Cases of Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade". The event was organised by the Jaipur, India-based CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment, with the cooperation of UNCTAD and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Geneva.

The event was organised in Geneva on 24-25 April 2001. More than 70 participants from civil society organisations, government officials, academics and representatives of trade missions in Geneva participated in the meeting. Officials from the WTO (World Trade Organisation) and the UNCTAD secretariat also participated and spoke on the occasion.

Most importantly, case studies were presented by experts from the developing world, such as Kenya, Nepal, Uganda, Mozambique, Chile, Zambia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

"This is the first time I have been hearing ground realities. In the meetings of the WTO Committee on SPS we hardly discuss such cases as we do not have access to ground realities," said Erik Wijkstrom, Economic Affairs Officer of Agriculture and Commodities Division of the WTO.

Wijkstrom was referring to various presentations of case studies on the difficulties of getting market access in industrialised countries due to increasing use of SPS and TBT measures. The event provided a fertile platform for the experts to present ground realities in implementing the provisions of WTO agreements on SPS and TBT.

"The main criticisms against the global standard setting process were lack of transparency and participation of consumer organisations," expressed Allan Asher, Global Campaigns Director of Consumers International, London, UK.

Hector Torres of the Argentinean trade mission at Geneva drew attention to the fact that developing countries have comparative advantage in agricultural exports but they cannot utilise this advantage under the present system.

"The opportunities offered by the WTO Agreement on Agriculture were not being realised properly because of market access barriers that these countries are facing due to improper use of standards" said Torres.

While presenting a study on the European Union ban on exports of shrimp products from Bangladesh on health grounds, Mustafizur Rahman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka, Bangladesh highlighted the adverse effects of the ban on the country's economy, its foreign exchange earnings, the employment of small fishermen etc.

"The cost of compliance with EU's standards was too high. If a product is perfect for domestic consumption why can it not be considered for consumption abroad", asserted Rahman.

In 1997, the ban was imposed on the ground that exports of this commodity did not meet the stringent provisions of the European Community's HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) regulations. It put the country's shrimp export industry under severe strain and led to serious market disruptions from which the country is still trying to recover. The cost was equivalent to US$ 65.1 million.

"During the last three years, the country has witnessed two bans of its fish from the Lake Victoria into the EU market. They had adverse impact on the fish industry, in terms of foreign exchange earnings, income and employment generation. Following the ban, about 4,000 people (let alone small fishermen who could not find a market for their catch) were suspended from work" said Flora Musonda of the Economic and Social Research Foundation, Dar Es Salaam. She presented a case study on the impact of implementing the WTO Agreement on SPS and fish exports from Tanzania.

Tanzania lags behind in complying with the provisions of the SPS Agreement because of insufficient technical know-how and human and financial resources and facilities. She called for institutional strengthening of the Fisheries Department through training of fish quality assurance and control staff, provision of communication and transport facilities to enhance logistical capacity etc.

Thomas Cottier of the Institute of European and International Economic Law, University of Berne, Switzerland spoke about the concerns of developing countries while implementing the provisions of the TBT Agreement. He pointed out that there was not only lack of analytical capacity of the national focal points but also little coordination between various stakeholders.

Elisabeth Tuerk of the Centre for International Environmental Law, Geneva, Switzerland presented a study on the dispute of asbestos exports from Canada to the European Union. She explained the implications of the dispute for the developing countries and what lessons could be learned.

Speaking at the inaugural, Carlos Fortin, Deputy Secretary General of UNCTAD applauded the initiative that CUTS has taken in bringing forth the views of developing and least developed countries on WTO rules.

Fortin urged CUTS to prepare a proactive and positive agenda on the issues and organise similar events in Geneva in future. "This is an education for us and required for the benefit of the multilateral trading system as a whole."

"CUTS should organise similar events in Geneva on issues of rules of origin, anti-dumping etc and implement a programme on WTO rules and market access in developing and least developed countries by forming a network of civil society organisations, academics, research institutes, representatives of inter-governmental organisations etc", said Mina Mashayekhi, Legal Officer of the International Trade Division of UNCTAD.

"The initiative is not only the need of the hour but with specific case studies the exercise will feed into the process of setting the agenda for the Doha Ministerial Conference of the WTO," said a trade diplomat from a large developing country. The Ministerial Conference will be held at Doha, Qatar in November 2001 and developing countries are coming up with a set of proactive agenda.

For more information about Case Studies, click here.

CONTACT US

Consumer Unity & Trust Society

D–217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park,

Jaipur 302 016, India,

Ph: +91(0)141-228 2821-3

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