Transnational CorporationsThe spiders and their webs…

Amit Sengupta

PHM-India

Third People’s Health AssemblyCape Town, 6th July-11th July, 2012

Power of TNCs….

• Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations

• The top 200s’ combined sales are 18 times the size of the combined annual income of the poorest 1.2 billion people

• Sales of the Top 200 are equivalent of 28% of world economic activity, but only employ 0.8% of the world’s workforce

TNCs – global tentacles…

• They seek markets wherever they may be, whatever may be the cost

• They, today, locate operations in different parts of the world to benefit from reduced wages,

lower standards of work conditions, less stringent environment protection laws

• They are today able to bargain the best conditions for themselves – low wages, poor regulation – as they shift from place to place

• They are today a major cause of loss of livelihoods and loss of control over natural resources

Tobacco….

• Philip Morris targeted WHO as part of a massive and far-reaching campaign to subvert

tobacco control activities around the world

• Philip Morris sued the Uruguayan govt. for its regulation that requires tobacco companies to

cover 80 per cent of their cigarette packs with pictorial warning labels

• Phillip Morris is using provisions in the Australia-Hong Kong Biliateral Investment treaty (BIT) to demand compensation for Australia's Plain cigarette packaging anti-smoking legislation

Processed Food…..

• Nestle, World's largest and most “diversified food company” in the world, with around 2,50,000 employees worldwide, 500 factories in 100 countries and offering over 8,000 products

• In 2004, monitoring results from 69 countries showed up over 2,000 violations of the baby food marketing code, and Nestlé was responsible for more violations than any other company. 

• It resort to double standards -- advertises the same product differently in countries of the North and the South. 

• in India, Nestle uses a surrogate front organisation – the Nestle Nutrition Institute to sponsor conferences of doctors in “Emerging Trends in Pediatric Nutrition”.

Pharma …….

• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will pay $3 billion in fines and plead guilty to criminal charges that it unlawfully promoted its anti- depressant  medicines Paxil and Wellbutrin and failed to report safety data about Avandia  its diabetes drug 

• GSK unlawfully marketed Paxil to treat depression in patients under 18 despite the fact that the drug was unapproved for pediatric use

• GSK paid millions of dollars to doctors to speak at and attend meetings which it sponsored

Can TNCs be controlled?

• ‘Social Responsibility’ approachPersuasion …..

• ‘Social Accountability’ approachIndependent accounting…

• ‘Economic threat’ approachProfits threatened with

boycotts….

• ‘Punitive’ approachSanctions, divestment….

Thalidomide

1960s…

Bhopal

1984……

And many more ….

And many more to follow?

With adequate profit, capital is very bold. A certain 10% will ensure its employment anywhere; 20% certain will produce eagerness; 50%, positive audacity; 100% will make it ready to trample on all human laws; 300%, and there is not a crime at which it will scruple, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged……