EU, U.S. discuss Massachusetts Burm

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Subject: EU, U.S. discuss Massachusetts Burma boycott



EU, U.S. discuss Massachusetts Burma boycott
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GENEVA (Reuter) - European Union, Japanese and U.S. officials met Tuesday 
under the umbrella
of the World Trade Organization to discuss a Massachusetts law hitting 
firms doing business with
Burma. 

But officials said the talks, formally called consultations and the first 
step in the WTO's dispute
settlement procedure, would be treated as confidential and no details 
were released. 

Backed by Japan, the EU says the law -- which took force in January -- 
violates the WTO's open
trading rules banning discrimination on political grounds. 

But Massachusetts officials -- who say the law is aimed at bolstering 
human rights in military-ruled
Burma -- responded by accusing Brussels and Tokyo of interfering in the 
state's domestic affairs. 

The law sets a pricing penalty on state procurements from companies -- 
both U.S. and foreign --
that do business in Burma, whose human rights record has also been under 
fire from the EU. 

The U.S. administration says it is consulting officials from the state 
and with Brussels in a bid to
resolve the dispute. 

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky has strongly criticized 
Brussels' decision to go to
the WTO. In a statement last month, she said the move was ``a 
counter-productive step, particularly
in light of efforts that the United States and the (EU) have both taken 
to exert pressure on the
repressive Burma regime.'' 

Under WTO rules, if the consultations do not produce a solution within 30 
days, the EU could ask
the 131-member organization's Dispute Settlement Body to set up a neutral 
panel to determine
whether the law violates global trade accords. 

(22 July 1997, Reuter)

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	News and Information Dept.
	All Burma Students' Democratic Organisation (ABSDO)  [Australia]
	Tel/Fax:61+03+98132613

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