Strange Bedfellows Get Screwed By Security And Prosperity Partnership

After Montebello meetings concluded on August 21, the 'three amigos' released a joint statement containing three distinct elements: a "North American Plan For Avian & Pandemic Influenza", an "SPP Regulatory Cooperation Framework" and an "Intellectual Property Action Strategy." Few would complain about leaders making plans to keep our chickens healthy, but the other two core elements are problematic. Regulatory cooperation is a positive thing, if countries are working to ensure the strongest universal rules for dangerous products. But that's not what's happening at the SPP. "Some 40 per cent of the pesticides Canada regulates have stricter limits than U.S. regulations," writes Campbell. "We know the Canadian government is in talks to relax its requirements on pesticide residues on U.S. fruits and vegetables." As for intellectual property, that's something the United States is increasingly concerned about. "The U.S.'s single largest export is not manufactured goods or arms or food, it is copyrights - patents on everything from books to drugs," writes Naomi Klien. Applications for patents in the US have gone up from an annual 150,000 a year in the late 80s to 275,000 in 2001, the U.K. Guardian reported. http://www.zmag.org:80/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=102&ItemID=13616 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 27, 2007]

Note: http://www.zmag.org:80/...