Just saw this from another list. Let's hope that it is for real.
Jerry
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Australia says effort to create agreement on investment has failed
The Australian Government says the three-year effort to create a
Multilateral Agreement on Investment has failed.
The 29 countries of the OECD had been negotiating on the treaty to
open all economic sectors to foreign ownership and protect international
investors.
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer, says the M-A-I is now
frozen, but the treaty draft may be used in future work by the World Trade
Organisation.
There were legitimate concerns about sovereignty and Australia's
sovereignty. And the MAI process is as I say, is now in deep frozen ice and
will not be proceeding directly further. The text to date will only be a
reference point in further work.
� 1998 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Mon Nov 2 21:15:01 1998 ( AEDT )
