Stop the Hogs!

The Largest, Most Disastrous Trade Deal You've Never Heard Of

[ http://www.alternet.org/robert-reich-la ... 029834&t=5 ]

Lobbyists from America's biggest corporations and Wall Street's biggest banks have been involved in pushing the Trans-Pacific Partnership but not the American public.

By Robert Reich / AlterNet January 6, 2015 Print

Republicans who now run Congress say they want to cooperate with President Obama, and point to the administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, as the model. The only problem is the TPP would be a disaster.

If you haven't heard much about the TPP, that's part of the problem right there. It would be the largest trade deal in history -- involving countries stretching from Chile to Japan, representing 792 million people and accounting for 40 percent of the world economy -- yet it's been devised in secret.

Lobbyists from America's biggest corporations and Wall Street's biggest banks have been involved but not the American public. That's a recipe for fatter profits and bigger paychecks at the top, but not a good deal for most of us, or even for most of the rest of the world.

First some background. We used to think about trade policy as a choice between "free trade" and "protectionism." Free trade meant opening our borders to products made elsewhere. Protectionism meant putting up tariffs and quotas to keep them out.

In the decades after World War II, America chose free trade. The idea was that each country would specialize in goods it produced best and at least cost. That way, living standards would rise here and abroad. New jobs would be created to take the place of jobs that were lost. And communism would be contained.

For three decades, free trade worked. It was a win-win-win.

But in more recent decades the choice has become far more complicated and the payoff from trade agreements more skewed to those at the top.

Tariffs are already low. Negotiations now involve such things as intellectual property, financial regulations, labor laws, and rules for health, safety, and the environment.

It's no longer free trade versus protectionism. Big corporations and Wall Street want some of both.

MORE:

[ http://www.alternet.org/robert-reich-la ... 029834&t=5 ]

Jane Kelsey: Leaked TPPA text has all the dangers Govt promised to negotiate away

[ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11423728 ]

By Jane Kelsey New Zealand Herald. 9:30 AM Friday Mar 27, 2015

Yesterday Wikileaks posted a near-ready investment chapter of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) dated January 20. It shows the Government has not listened to New Zealanders opposing special rights for foreign investors and their enforcement in controversial, private, offshore tribunals.

Nor has it protected the New Zealand Government's right to regulate from being attacked by foreign investors and from rogue interpretations by investment arbitration tribunals, as promised.

The text shows the main rules relied on by foreign investors are largely unchanged from the previous leak in 2012. In one important case, the worst option was chosen.

- - - SNIP - - - -


. . . . An international investment tribunal under the North American Free Trade Agreement (the template for the TPPA) held Canada liable for a decision by an environment panel in Nova Scotia to deny US firm Bilcon approval for a controversial quarry and marine terminal.

A review panel established under local environmental laws criticised Bilcon's poor consultation with indigenous peoples, fishers and other communities and found the project contrary to "community core values". Bilcon complained local officials had encouraged the project and called the review panel a "rare, cumbersome and costly obstacle" to its investment.

In a split decision, the majority - the investor's nominee and the chair - said the panel failed to explore alternative ways to address public concerns. Bilcon's treatment was considered unfair and discriminatory, because similar panels in other parts of Canada had approved such projects subject to conditions. The US firm wants $300 million damages.

The dissenting arbitrator, appointed by Canada, objected that Bilcon gained financial compensation that was not available from the domestic courts, where the matter should have been resolved. Decisions about Canadian law now end up being made by offshore investment tribunals. He also warned the decision will "create a chill" on the operation of future environmental review panels.

The Canadian Government is expected to demand the province reimburse it for the damages, as it did with a recent dispute where Exxon was awarded $17 million because a provincial government's requirement to invest more R&D funds locally breached a rule prohibiting performance requirements on investors.

The Government and its negotiators know these investment chapters, especially ISDS, are facing a crisis of legitimacy. But nothing has been done to rein in the adventurism of arbitrators who pass judgment on vital matters of public policy. There is no code of conduct for arbitrators to address conflicts of interest arising when investment lawyers also act as the judges in investment disputes. There is no appeal.

The leaked text underscores again the anti-democratic essence of the TPPA negotiations. Not only are negotiations secret, but the agreement puts handcuffs on future central and local governments for the indefinite future without people or Parliament having an effective say.

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Jane Kelsey is a law professor at the University of Auckland.

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See also:

Australia’s Rejection of Investor-State, from AUSFTA to the Gillard Government’s Trade Policy and the implications for Canada.

[ http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/Single_Pa ... -paper.pdf ]

By Janet M Eaton, PhD. December 31st , 2013.

Overview:

This paper places the Australian Labor government’s 2011 policy of Investor -State rejection within the context of the escalating criticism of Investor-State Agreements [ISAs] and the extent to which they are being revisited and rejected by a growing number of countries. It offers insight into how and why the former Labor government of Australia came to its decision to reject Investor -State in its 2011 Trade Policy Statement while considering whether Australia’s policy of Investor-State rejection should be an option for Canada. The paper also provides background information on Investor-State Agreements and related BITS and FIPAs.

FULL REPORT:

[ http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/Single_Pa ... -paper.pdf ]

Why Trade Pacts Like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Are Scary and Anti-Democratic

[ http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politi ... 34034&t=19 ]

There has to be a better way.

By Peter Schurman / AlterNet March 27, 2015

Thursday's New York Times featured an exposé on the draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, [ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/busin ... .html?_r=0 ] the latest international trade agreement under negotiation, based on a disclosure from Wikileaks. [ https://wikileaks.org/tpp-investment/ ]

It highlights one of the scariest things about this and previous trade agreements: it “would allow foreign corporations to sue the United States government for actions that undermine their investment 'expectations' and hurt their business.”

Senator Sherrod Brown sums up the problem, saying, "This continues the great American tradition of corporations writing trade agreements, sharing them with almost nobody, so often at the expense of consumers, public health and workers."

MORE:

[ http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politi ... 34034&t=19 ]

Will Pacific Trade Deal Outlaw "Buy Local"?

[ http://www.yesmagazine.org/thisweek/201 ... n=20150417 ]

April 17, 2015

For the past few years, we at YES! have been covering the Trans Pacific Partnership—a trade deal that would affect more than 40 percent of the world’s economy. This week, Senators Orrin Hatch and Ron Wyden introduced legislation to rush through the deal’s passage. But this is not the kind of thing you want to rush. The TPP is a corporate-rights agreement that would stand in the way of a new economy of economic justice and environmental sanity. To see the details, check out my new article, which translates a leaked part of the deal’s secret text into plain English.


============================


A Trade Rule that Makes It Illegal to Favor Local Business? Newest Leak Shows TPP Would Do That And More

[ http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/ ... -wikileaks ]

The leaked text is full of dense legal jargon. But a close reading makes its corporate agenda crystal clear.

David Korten posted Apr 15, 2015

Secret negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade and investment agreement involving 12 nations of the Pacific Rim, are coming to a close, and President Barack Obama will soon submit the final agreement to the U.S. Congress for approval.

Presumably, he will urge the deal’s passage with the same unsubstantiated and misleading claims his administration has offered all along: that the TPP will support Made-in-America exports, enforce fundamental labor rights, promote strong environmental protection, and help small business. [ https://ustr.gov/tpp ]

But a newly leaked document belies those claims. The Trans-Pacific Partnership’s text consists of a number of chapters, among the most important of which is the one on investments. On March 25, WikiLeaks released a confidential draft of that chapter dated January 20. The draft contains instructions indicating that it will be declassified only “Four years from entry into force … or, if no agreement enters into force, four years from the close of the negotiations.”
[ https://wikileaks.org/tpp-investment/Wi ... hapter.pdf ]

A quick reading of the leaked chapter makes it clear why TPP sponsors have gone to great lengths to keep their negotiations secret. The document substantiates claims by opponents that the TPP is a corporate-rights agreement designed to facilitate the export of U.S. jobs, allow corporations to sue governments for enacting labor and environmental protections, make it illegal for governments to favor local businesses, and advance the colonization of national economies by global corporations and financiers.

As problematic as this chapter is, we can be thankful that it is out in the open. Now the need is to understand what all the legalese means.

The leaked document includes many technical details decipherable only by trade lawyers. Here are the Cliffs Notes in simple English.

1. Favoring local ownership is prohibited

Let’s start with the Investment Chapter’s section on how the TPP’s member countries should treat foreign investors:

Each Party [country] shall accord to investors of another Party treatment no less favorable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own investors with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments in its territory.

Put in plain English, the above paragraph means that signatory countries renounce their right to favor the domestic ownership and control of the lands, waters, and other productive assets and services essential to the lives and well-being of their people.

The 12 countries further renounce their right to favor locally owned businesses, corporations, cooperatives, or public enterprises devoted to serving their people with good local jobs, products, and services. They must instead give equal or better treatment to global corporations that come only to extract profits.

- - - -

2. Corporations must be paid to stop polluting

3. Three lawyers will decide who’s right in secret tribunals

4. Speculative money must remain free [guarantees the right of speculators to destabilize national economies]

5. Corporate interests come before national ones


MORE:

[ http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/ ... -wikileaks ]

Barlow condemns TPP as a deal for the 1% as next round of talks approaches

[ http://canadians.org/blog/barlow-condem ... approaches ]

May 9, 2015 - 10:20am

The Council of Canadians opposes the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The Toronto Star explains, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a proposed free trade agreement between 12 countries on the Pacific Ocean: Canada, the U.S., Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Vietnam, Singapore, Peru, New Zealand, Chile and Brunei. ...The TPP covers a wide range of non-tariff concerns, including intellectual property, food safety, and labour standards. ...The negotiations have been conducted in secret. Drafts have been leaked of TPP sections on three significant topics: intellectual property, the environment, and 'investor-state dispute settlement' — common but controversial rules that give companies the right to go to arbitration panels, outside the regular courts, to challenge laws they believe violate their rights under the deal." [ http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/ ... swers.html ]

The articles adds, "The countries involved are hinting that they are close to a deal, but we don’t know exactly how close." There had been speculation earlier this year that the agreement could be concluded by March, but that deadline has now obviously passed. The next TPP ministerial meeting takes place this May 26-28 in the Philippines.

The deal does face continuing obstacles including, "The U.S. Congress hasn’t yet given Obama 'fast-track' authority — the power to negotiate a deal without having Congress change it. Other countries, including Canada, say they can’t agree to concessions if they know Congress could fiddle. The U.S. and Japan, the two largest economies involved, haven’t resolved their clash over two delicate policies: U.S. tariffs on auto parts and Japan’s heavy fortifications around its cherished rice market. And the U.S. also has an unresolved beef with Canada over the 'supply management' system that protects dairy and poultry farmers."

On that latter point, "The Obama administration has suggested repeatedly that Canada could be kicked out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it refuses to abandon the 'supply management' system that protects dairy and poultry farmers from competition. ...Supply management shields farmers through a web of production quotas, hefty import tariffs and prices set by industry boards rather than the free market. The system benefits only about 15,000 farmers, and costs consumers millions in higher prices, but the issue is widely viewed as politically delicate."

In January, Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson commented, "It would be difficult for the Harper government to make serious concessions on supply management at any time, so powerful are the supply-management lobbies. It would be harder still in an election year [which this is], counting on the support of farmers, who tend to vote Conservative, at least outside Quebec. [And yet] no concessions by Canada, or measly ones, might leave the country outside any final deal. The door would be open for Canada to join TPP later, but only if it amended supply management." [ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-de ... e22589256/ ]

Today's news report quotes Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow who states, “Once again the Harper government is forcing Canada into a major trade negotiation that will only benefit the 1 per cent. Like the Canada-EU deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership could force Canada to change its drug policies, its copyright policies, its environmental and public health rules — all without going through the normal parliamentary process."

To call on the Harper government to publish the draft text of the TPP before any final agreement is signed, please click on our action alert here:
[ http://canadians.org/expose-tpp ]

For more, please see our Trans Pacific Partnership campaign web-page here:
[ http://canadians.org/tpp ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Canadian MPs join international legislators to oppose “certification” in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, say it endangers country sovereignty

[ http://canadians.org/media/canadian-mps-tpp ]

Media Release May 15, 2015

Ottawa − The debate rages in the United States over President Obama’s fast track powers to approve − the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a “free trade” agreement of 12 countries including Canada. Today, in Canada, NDP trade critic Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May joined in the debate by joining 40 parliamentarians from the other countries in writing a letter encouraging trade ministers to oppose the United States’ certification process.

The certification process allows the United States to vet the other countries’ sovereign laws ensuring they “conform” with the trade agreement, before the United States obligations would come into effect.

The open letter states, “If applied to the TPP, this practice would infringe on the sovereignty of our governments to determine the meaning and extent of the obligations they have agreed to and adopted under the TPP; it would impugn the constitutional authority and responsibility of legislatures and lawmakers; and it would constitute interference by a foreign government in the sovereignty of our countries.”

The letter was sent to International Trade Minister Ed Fast and his counterparts in the other countries. From Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand, the signatories include ministers, prominent former parliamentarians as well as current leaders of political parties, spokespersons for trade, and members of committees with responsibility for the TPP.

“We have been saying since Free Trade 1.0, the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement, that free trade agreements undermine the right of nation state governments to regulate in the interests of their people and the environment ,” says Maude Barlow, Chair of the Council of Canadians. “This agreement diminishes the democratic rights of citizens to hold their governments accountable.”

According to news reports, for example, Canada is being pressured by the United States to end supply management for farmers. The original Canadian provisions allowed farmers to produce efficiently according to the demand, and to preserve the livelihood of small family farms.

In Peru, the Deputy US Trade Representative “helped” the Peruvian government in 2008 to finalize 35 new laws to better suit the US. As well, two teams of US government lawyers assisted Peru on drafting environmental and business laws. The laws covered data protection for pharmaceuticals, investor arbitration, changes to indigenous land ownership and the education system.

This week, to international surprise, the TPP received a major blow from Obama’s own party: Senate democrats temporarily successfully filibustered Obama’s Fast Track bill. The bill would have given him executive authority to sign the TPP.
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-de ... e24431654/ ]

The open letter to International Trade Minister Ed Fast can be found here:
[ http://canadians.org/sites/default/file ... P-0515.pdf ]

For media calls:

Leila Marshy, Media Officer
Cell: (613) 618-4761
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 232
E-mail: lmarshy@canadians.org

++++++++++++++++

Obama gets stinging rebuke from own party over Trans-Pacific trade deal

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-de ... e24431654/ ]

KONRAD YAKABUSKI The Globe and Mail Published Thursday, May. 14 2015, 3:00 AM EDT Last updated Thursday, May. 14 2015, 6:07 AM EDT

EXCERPT:

Mr. Obama calls the TPP the “most progressive trade deal in history” and has made its passage his priority. He has not lobbied members of Congress so forcefully on any initiative since his 2010 health-care law. But after two decades of trash-talking trade, blaming globalization for U.S. woes, most congressional Democrats are not about to change their spots now.

This has put Mr. Obama in the unique position of relying on Republicans to advance his agenda. But it is not enough. On Tuesday, the White House came up short of the required 60 votes needed in the Senate to advance a measure authorizing Mr. Obama to complete the TPP negotiations and submit a final deal to a straight up-or-down vote in Congress. Democrats voted in a bloc against their own party’s President, a stinging rebuke that portends a rough road ahead for the party’s 2016 nominee.

Open warfare has broken out between the White House and left-leaning Democrats in Congress, whose consciences Ms. Clinton needs to soothe to avoid any snags en route to the 2016 nomination. True to form, Ms. Clinton is impossible to pin down on TPP. But her ties to Wall Street and corporate America means they could be soon getting the “old wink-wink” themselves.

MORE:

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-de ... e24431654/ ]

WATCH: Assange on the Trans_Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement

PART 2: Julian Assange on the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Secretive Deal Isn’t About Trade, But Corporate Control

[ http://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/27/j ... ns_pacific ]

May 27, 2015

As negotiations continue, WikiLeaks has published leaked chapters of the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership — a global trade deal between the United States and 11 other countries. The TPP would cover 40 percent of the global economy, but details have been concealed from the public. A recently disclosed "Investment Chapter" highlights the intent of U.S.-led negotiators to create a tribunal where corporations can sue governments if their laws interfere with a company’s claimed future profits. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange warns the plan could chill the adoption of health and environmental regulations.

MULCAIR: NDP on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

From: Tom Mulcair
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 9:40 AM
Subject: New Democrats on TPP

Thank you for getting in touch regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

As you know, the stakes of the TPP negotiations are high for Canada. It presents an important opportunity to build stronger, sustainable trade linkages with Asia and with Asian-Pacific countries, but it is also a far-reaching agreement that could impact everything from job creation to the viability of the family farm to internet access to the price of pharmaceutical drugs in Canada.

Many have raised concerns about the impact the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanisms could have on Canada's ability to legislate in the public interest, echoing concerns New Democrats have raised in the past. Others are raising concerns about the impact a deal could have on fair trademark and copyright laws, to ensure we have a free and open internet, a balanced creator-user structure and timely access to cost-effective prescription medicines.

Canada's supply management system is essential to the health of our rural communities and an important driver of the Canadian economy. It helps thousands of family farms exist and prosper and contributes nearly 30 billion dollars to our GDP, while creating more than 200,000 jobs, directly and indirectly.

New Democrats believe it is in Canada's best interest to maintain an agricultural policy that supports a strong farming sector in healthy rural communities, with a stable system that produces safe, healthy and affordable food. This is why I wrote to the prime minister on June 26, 2015, urging Stephen Harper to commit to defend supply management in its entirety and reassure Canadians that it will be protected in all future negotiations.

Diversifying and deepening our trade relationships are a priority for New Democrats – but agreements must be carefully negotiated so they benefit Canada's interests in the long term. And as with any international agreement affecting Canadians' lives, we believe the government of Canada must strive for transparency, openness, and accountability.

Unfortunately, the Conservatives' approach to these negotiations has been marked by secrecy and the absence of meaningful public consultations. Recent polls suggest more than 75% of Canadians have never even heard of the TPP. For a trade deal of significant economic importance, the Canadian government should be doing a much better job of keeping Canadians informed about these negotiations.

The NDP believes the level of secrecy surrounding the TPP is unacceptable, but of course we cannot judge an agreement we have not seen. When it comes to trade agreements, details are what matters. In keeping with our consistent approach, the NDP will carefully study the text of an agreement in order to evaluate whether Canadian families and communities will benefit.

We are also committed to extensive consultations with Canadians and stakeholder groups, most of whom have been shut out by the Conservative government's approach. In our view, meaningful consultation requires significant details about the agreement or the actual negotiated text.

In the meantime, the NDP will continue to push the Conservatives for more public information about what is on the table at the TPP negotiations and advocate for an approach to trade that focuses on helping create value-added jobs; respects the environment; labour and human rights; and preserves governmental legislative and regulatory authority.

Thank you for taking the time to express your views about this important subject.

All the best,


Tom Mulcair, M.P. (Outremont)
Leader of the Official Opposition
New Democratic Party of Canada

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TPP Deal Puts BC's Privacy Laws in the Crosshairs

[ http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/07/16/TP ... ign=160715 ]

If negotiators get their way, data could more freely flow across borders.

By Scott Sinclair, July 16, 2015, TheTyee.ca

British Columbia's privacy laws are in the crosshairs of the nearly completed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. If you're wondering what the heck data privacy protections have to do with trade, you're not alone. Public awareness of the far-reaching, 12-country negotiation is scant, with polls showing three-quarters of Canadians have never even heard of the TPP.

Unfortunately for privacy advocates in B.C. and the rest of the country, the advancement of "digital free trade" is a high priority for the U.S. in the negotiations. This carefully chosen euphemism conjures up the free flow of information, the convenience of cloud computing, even escaping Internet censorship. It all sounds so positive.

The thing is, the TPP e-commerce chapter aims not only to free the movement of digital goods, such as software or downloadable music, but also to enshrine the rights of companies to freely move data -- including records of financial transactions, consumer behaviour, online communications and medical histories -- across borders. This personal data is much sought after by marketers, insurers and intelligence agencies that can build detailed profiles and histories of individuals, frequently without their knowledge or informed consent.

U.S. negotiators are pushing hard to eliminate national laws in TPP countries that require sensitive personal data to be stored on secure local servers, or within national borders. This goal collides with the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Act and similar regulations in Nova Scotia, which are listed as "foreign trade barriers" in a 2015 United States Trade Representative (USTR) report.

According to that report, the B.C. privacy laws "prevent public bodies such as primary and secondary schools, universities, hospitals, government-owned utilities, and public agencies from using U.S. services when personal information could be accessed from or stored in the United States." In practical terms, this means U.S. firms hoping to provide health information management services to the government or online educational software to provincial schools or libraries must guarantee any personal data, such as a person's medical history or academic achievement, is securely stored within Canada and can only be accessed from here, with the express consent of the person involved.

The TPP text is secret, but we can assume the section on data flows will be the same as, or very similar to, the draft e-commerce chapter of another controversial negotiation called the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). WikiLeaks recently published the TISA text, which reads, "No Party may prevent a service supplier of another Party from transferring, accessing, processing or storing information, including personal information, within or outside the Party's territory, where such activity is carried out in connection with the conduct of the service supplier's business [emphasis added]."

This would give corporations the right to transfer personal data anywhere in the world as they, not public officials, see fit. The Canadian government supports this language in the TISA, according to the leaks, so we must assume they have already agreed to it in the TPP, though it's still unclear whether that deal will outlaw government regulations restricting cross-border data flows in a limited number of sectors or ban them entirely, as U.S. business lobbies are asking.

- - - -SNIP - - - -

Just as U.S. corporate interests dominate their government's negotiating position in the TPP, so too does the U.S. dominate the overall project. The TPP cannot truly be called a multilateral agreement; it is more a series of one-on-one bargains with the U.S. hub. This gives the U.S. government undue influence over the end result, which is particularly true of the chapter on data flows, where other countries might have been inclined to band together against overly corporate-friendly rules.

They would have very good reasons to do so. Thanks to Edward Snowden, the whole world now knows the U.S. is massively violating privacy rights at home and abroad. Whether it is the U.S. goal, or a thoughtless side effect, embedding unrestricted rights to cross-border data flows and cloud computing in trade agreements virtually assures that a vast trove of personal data will be more easily accessible to U.S. intelligence agencies subject to U.S. security laws.

The lack of public awareness in Canada that any of this is happening is quite disturbing. What media coverage there is of the negotiations has focused almost exclusively on the threat to supply management in dairy and poultry -- an important issue, but far from the only one.

The reality is that the TPP negotiations are a perfect cauldron for brewing bad policy. Although the terms are still secret, Prime Minister Stephen Harper insists it is "essential" for Canada to be part of the deal, even if that involves "difficult choices." In this pressure cooker, compromising Canadians' privacy protections is a tempting card for our negotiators to play. It will take greater public awareness and outcry to ensure that privacy protections, including B.C.'s exemplary safeguards, are not sacrificed in the name of digital free trade.

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RELATED:

Sacred Cows? Nah, Secretive Trade Deals Are Mostly Bull - July 15, 2015
[ http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/07/15/Sa ... ade-Deals/ ]
Global pacts like the TPP threaten made-in-Canada system, argue dairy farmers.


Canadians Have Reason to Be Wary of TPP Trade Deal - June 3, 2015
[ http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2015/06/03/TPP-Trade-Deal/ ]
Details of the biggest negotiations on the planet still shrouded in secrecy.


Leaked Pacific Trade Treaty Shows Countries Had Plenty to Hide - November 19, 2013
[ http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2013/11/19 ... de-Treaty/ ]
Text reveals threats to Canadian web access, expansive border seizures and pricier health care.

No deal: 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks end

[ http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/ ... -talks-end ]

THE CANADIAN PRESS Published on: August 1, 2015 | Last Updated: August 1, 2015 11:52 AM EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was prepared to make a triumphant announcement Friday night about Canada joining the largest free-trade zone in history, and use that as a launchpad into an anticipated weekend election call.

But the planned event in Parliament’s Centre Block never happened.

That’s because a few thousand kilometres away, negotiators couldn’t close the deal. Ministers from 12 countries left Hawaii without a Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty, and without a date set for their next meeting.

Now the Conservative government finds itself in a rare position: instead of campaigning on a free-trade deal, it might have to negotiate one in the midst of a national election.

International Trade Minister Ed Fast was asked about the impending Canadian vote and whether his government would be able to participate in the next round of talks.

“When our partners reconvene, and we trust that will be very soon, Canada will continue to be at the table as a constructive partner — with a sincere desire to complete these negotiations.” Fast told a Maui news conference Friday.

“Canada came to Maui ready to conclude a TPP. We were active, constructive players at the table.”

The countries had arrived in Hawaii last week amid expectations they might close out a free-trade agreement covering 40 per cent of the world’s economy.

They got closer — but couldn’t cross the finish line.

“We have made significant progress,” said Michael Froman, the head of the U.S. delegation.

Agriculture is one of the final sticking points — participants described that as a normal phenomenon in trade negotiations, given the political sensitivity around farming and food.

In recent months, other countries have singled out Canada for having taken a hard line on allowing foreign competition into its tightly controlled dairy sector.

But one trade expert at the meetings said a 12-party negotiation is too complex to be boiled down to one issue and one country. Canadian dairy is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, Alan Wolff said.

“It’s highly interdependent,” said Wolff, a former U.S. negotiator who now leads the American National Foreign Trade Council, an industry association.

“The question is, who moves? Canada has to take in some more dairy… Japan has to take in some more dairy. The U.S. has to take in some more sugar.”

At the same time the U.S. has a counter-demand — that other countries increase protections for cutting-edge pharmaceuticals against copycat versions. It wants countries to adopt its 12-year exclusivity period for new biologics products; Canada offers eight years and some countries offer virtually no protection.

So the stakes of this deal would extend beyond grocery stores, farms, research labs and pharmacies — where prices could rise or plunge, depending on the product.

They could also be felt at ballot boxes around the world.

Canada is the first TPP country facing a general election — but others have looming political deadlines.

MORE:

[ http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/ ... -talks-end ]

TPP leaks show Canada Post and CBC up for trade

[ http://canadians.org/media/tpp-leaks-sh ... -cbc-trade ]

Media Availability July 30, 2015

OTTAWA – According to a document leaked on Wikileaks, the CBC and Canada Post could be jeopardized by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement being negotiated this week in Maui by Canada and 11 other countries. State-owned enterprises in the TPP could be severely restricted and subject to rules that force them to give up their public service mandates in order to become purely profit-driven organizations. They would also be prohibited from buying services exclusively from local or national sources.

Leak: https://wikileaks.org/tpp-soe-minister/

“The TPP will hinder our state-owned enterprises from acting in the public interest,” says Sujata Dey, trade campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “The very mission of the CBC – telling the bilingual and multicultural story of Canada – will be reduced to simple profit making. Likewise, Canada Post will no longer function as a nation builder, but as a private company. The essence and mandate of our crown corporations are being traded away in favour of private corporate profit.”

Garry Neil, the Council's executive director and a cultural policy expert says, “because of a long string of government funding cuts, the CBC is already acting too commercially and straying from its essential public service mandate. Forbidding it from giving preference to Canadian producers undermines the Canadian content rules that ensure it remains an essentially Canadian service. All of this sets the stage for the privatization of the CBC, which has been the goal of the Harper government since it was first elected.”

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the largest economic trade agreement in the world, comprising more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP. -30-

For media calls:

Leila Marshy, Media Officer
Cell: (613) 618-4761
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 232
E-mail: lmarshy@canadians.org

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Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) Treaty: State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Issues for Ministerial Guidance

[ https://wikileaks.org/tpp-soe-minister/ ]

Today, 29 July 2015, WikiLeaks releases a secret letter from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP or TPPA) Ministerial Meeting in December 2013, along with a comprehensive expert analysis of the document.

Download the TPP SOE Ministerial Guidance in PDF or read below.
[ https://wikileaks.org/tpp-soe-minister/ ... idance.pdf ]


Download the expert analysis on TPP SOE Ministerial Guidance in PDF or read the HTML.
[ https://wikileaks.org/tpp-soe-minister/ ... idance.pdf ]

The letter indicates a wide-ranging privatisation and globalisation strategy within the Agreement which aims to severely restrict "state-owned enterprises" (SOEs). Even an SOE that exists to fulfil a public function neglected by the market or which is a natural monopoly would nevertheless be forced to act "on the basis of commercial considerations" and would be prohibited from discriminating in favour of local businesses in purchases and sales. Foreign companies would be given standing to sue SOEs in domestic courts for perceived departures from the strictures of the TPP, and countries could even be sued by other TPP countries, or by private companies from those countries. Developing countries such as Vietnam, which employs a large number of SOEs as part of its economic infrastructure, would be affected most. SOEs continue to fulfil vital public functions in even the most privatised countries, such as Canada and Australia.

MORE:

[ https://wikileaks.org/tpp-soe-minister/ ]

TPP talks fail: Part of Harper’s disastrous economic project ends, says Council of Canadians

[ http://canadians.org/media/tpp-talks-fa ... -canadians ]

Media Release July 31, 2015

OTTAWA – Ministers from 12 countries negotiating the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) announced that they were unable to reach an agreement today. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to call an election Sunday or Monday while boasting of the success of the undisclosed agreement. The Council of Canadians has warned against the destructive effects of a potential deal.

“This is a victory for those fighting against the TPP,” says Sujata Dey, Trade Campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “The nightmarish details will not be revealed for a long time, but from what little we do know from Wikileaks, we see that it involves a corporate takeover of the public good. This stall in talks could mean the death of the deal, and a win for the public interest all over the world.”

There is widespread speculation that the deal will not be adopted. Public Citizen, a well-connected U.S. citizens’ group that regularly lobbies on Capitol Hill, says it will be next to impossible for the TPP to pass Congress before President Obama’s term expires, even if a deal had been concluded today.

So far, chapters of the agreement have been revealed only through Wikileaks. Some MPs have not had access to the deal, and advisors who have received the required clearance face jail terms if they reveal details of the agreement.

Unifor, a major private sector union, just released a report calling Harper one of the worst economic managers since World War II. The report, titled Rhetoric and Reality: Evaluating Canada’s Economic Record Under the Harper Government, [ http://www.unifor.org/sites/default/fil ... _eng_0.pdf ] says: “Since its election in 2006, Canada’s exports have hardly grown at all, at an average rate of just 0.3% per year. That’s by far the worst in post-war history, and Canada now experiences large annual trade deficits (since our imports grew much faster than our exports). Nurturing Canadian skills, value-added industries and globally successful companies is the key to higher exports – not just signing more corporate-friendly trade deals.”

“Under free trade deals, Canadian exports have not grown. The TPP would have been just another of the Harper government’s terrible economic legacies,” says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “Luckily, the deal was not concluded in Maui. With a federal election imminent, Canadians can choose another direction.” - 30 -

For media calls:
Leila Marshy, Media Officer
Cell: (613) 618-4761
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 232
E-mail: lmarshy@canadians.org


MORE ON TRADE DEALS:

[ http://canadians.org/trade ]

TPP trade talks too secret, NDP MP Don Davies says (July, 2014)

[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tpp-tra ... -1.2703010 ]

Deal would tie Canada to countries with forced labour and suppression of dissent, trade critic states

By Kirsty Kirkup, CBC News Posted: Jul 10, 2014 3:11 PM ET| Last Updated: Jul 10, 2014 6:36 PM ET

The NDP's trade critic (Don Davie) says the Conservative government's negotiations on the TransPacific Partnership are unnecessarily secretive, and he's calling on the government to hold consultations on Canada's position in the 12-country talks.

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Davies sent a letter on Thursday to Trade Minister Ed Fast to call for increased transparency, the promotion of Canadian interests and increased support for human rights and environmental and labour standards.

"We call on the government to place any final agreement before Parliament and the Canadian public for a comprehensive analysis of its benefits and costs prior to formal commitment by Canada," the letter states.

Fast was not available for an interview on Thursday, but an emailed statement from his office denounced the NDP for "joining their radical anti-trade activist allies and supporters in giving voice to the NDP's deeply held and long-standing anti-trade views."

Shannon Gutoskie, a press secretary for Fast, suggested Davies "skipped" a TPP briefing on March 25 at a Commons committee with Canadian officials to instead "advocate against Canadian interests in the U.S."

The federal government has stressed the importance of expanding trade relationships with the Asia-Pacific region, and says TPP countries represent 792 million people and a combined GDP of $28.1 trillion.