A Different Kind of Foriegn Aid

LONDON, England-U.S. citizens aren't the only beneficiaries of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Act has successfully served the public interest throughout the world, both to aid the dissemination of information and as a model for freedom of information legislation where none presently exists.

The U.S. FOIA can be used by U.S. citizens and foreign nationals alike, both within the United States and abroad. Although useful information may take years to obtain, there are several ways in which the Act can be helpful to people outside the United States:

Formulating public policy.

In late 1985, the Campaign for Freedom of Information, a London-based advocacy group for the creation of a British Freedom of Information Act, used the U.S. FOIA to force a change in Britain's pesticide laws.

Until 1985, regulation of new pesticides in Britain was conducted via an informal "gentleman's agreement" between pesticide manufacturers and the government. Although the government required new pesticides to be tested for their impact on health and the environment, it kept the results of its evaluations strictly confidential. In exchange, British manufacturers agreed not to market new pesticides that fell below the government's undisclosed standards. Not only did this policy keep British citizens in the dark, it broke down when pesticide suppliers began to buy from manufacturers outside Britain, who were not bound by the informal agreement with the government.

When the government announced plans for legislation to regulate new pesticides, the Campaign and Friends of the Earth decided to challenge Britain's policy of secrecy. To the dismay and embarrassment of the British government, the two groups provided lawmakers with data, obtained through the U.S. FOIA, on pesticides used in Britain.

Confronted with reports available from Washington, the government agreed to release more information on British pesticides. Most importantly, the new pesticide legislation was amended so that summaries of the government's pesticide analyses would be made public in the future.

Tracking companies or products that could cause health, safety, or environmental problems.

U.S. government agencies may be monitoring the same companies, or similar products, that are found in other countries.

Friends of the Earth in Britain used the FOIA to obtain a report on the safety of U.S.-designed nuclear reactors that the British government was considering ordering. The report was prepared by Britain's Atomic Energy Authority for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but was unavailable to the British public. By confirming that the Thatcher government's theoretical calculations had greatly underestimated the chance of a nuclear accident occurring, the report added substantially to mounting criticism of the government's plans-and the government eventually dropped consideration of the reactors.

U.S. agencies like the Consumer Product Safety Commission monitor accidents and injuries involving consumer goods. Using the FOIA, the British public interest group Social Audit has obtained details of safety defects in a variety of British products-from cars to toys-exported to the United States.

Multinational corporations aren't the only companies that can be monitored under the U.S. FOIA. Social Audit used the FOIA to expose inadequate hygiene standards at several British food processing plants. Sanitation violations ranged from dirty floors and rusted equipment, to instances of paint chips flaking into cooking vats for the Scottish delicacy, haggis.

The information on British plants was available through the FOIA because companies which export food products to the United States are visited by inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to ensure that the overseas plants meet U.S. manufacturing standards.

The FDA also inspects the laboratories of overseas pharmaceutical companies who export drugs to the United States. The agency's reports on drug safety testing can also be obtained under the FOIA.

Indirectly obtaining information about foreign governments.

Agencies of different governments often exchange information on problems of common interest. It is possible to obtain information about a foreign government by filing a FOI request with the U.S. government.

British members of parliament used the U.S. FOIA to further their investigation into the role of the Thatcher government in the 1985 collapse of the International Tin Council (ITC) [see Collapsing Cartels, Multinational Monitor, April 30, 1986].

Shortly after the ITC broke down in October 1985, British lawmakers in the House of Commons created a special, bipartisan committee to investigate the reasons for the 30-year old cartel's demise. Their efforts were frustrated when ITC representatives, claiming diplomatic immunity, refused to testify before the committee on the activities of the Tin Council.

British members of the council were similarly "tight as a clam," according to Stan Crowther, a Labor Member of Parliament on the House committee.

The committee discovered, however, that the U.S. government-which was not a member of the ITC-possessed copies of reports by the ITC buffer stock manager. The committee obtained the reports from Washington under a FOI request, and revealed that the manager had warned ITC representatives for several years "that they had a crisis on their hands," Crowther told the Monitor.

The committee is continuing its investigation.

Maurice Frankel works with the Campaign for Freedom of Information in London.