Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in IPS speaking on tax. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Ecuador Revives Campaign for UN Tax Body

By: Thalif Deen

"Asked about the feasibility of the proposal against Western opposition, Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the Jubilee USA Network, one of NGOs backing the proposal, told IPS: 'In just a few years we’ve seen almost universal acknowledgment of the problems of tax avoidance, tax evasion and corruption.'

'At the same time we do see clear opposition from many wealthy countries on the idea of a global tax body as part of a solution'.

For this to be successful, he pointed out, there needs to be some re-envisioning of the proposal from the Addis Ababa conference. He said the G77 could also engage in bilateral agreements to move this forward.

'While the United Nations tries to operate by consensus, we could also see countries force a vote at the United Nations. While a vote would likely be successful under this method, without some re-envisioning of the concept, we’d likely see many wealthy countries refuse to participate in the process,' he warned.

Asked if Ecuador will be able to pull it off?, LeCompte told IPS: 'Ecuador seems to be operating out of a G77 consensus on these issues. Since the Financing for Development meetings in Addis Ababa, we’ve seen G77 countries like Ecuador strengthen their support for these efforts.'"

Read more here.