The 11 remaining countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership are continuing to meet in an effort to revive this failed agreement. Their target date is at the APEC Leaders Meeting in Vietnam on November 11 this year.
Send a message to the Australian Trade Minister Steven Ciobo telling him not to revive the TPP!
September 18, 2017: Ambassadors from Canada and Mexico have told Politico that their governments want to keep Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), despite the fact that most NAFTA ISDS cases have been taken by US companies against their governments.
September 10, 2017: Vanuatu signed PACER-plus at the Pacific island forum meeting of leaders in Apia. Samoa. PNG and Fiji , the two largest PI economics, have still not signed. The leaders statement from the forum, which deals with a wide range of issues like climate change, security and fisheries, as well as trade issues, barely mentioned PACER plus. The agreement has still not been tabled in the Australian Parliament, but this could take place soon.
September 12, 2017: RCEP Ministers met last week in Manila to assess progress in the negotiations. Filipino community groups met with negotiators and organised forums and protests.
Indonesia has filed a complaint to the World Trade Organisation over the Australian government’s decision to impose dumping duties on A4 paper from Brazil, China, Thailand and Indonesia - announced in April.
Civil society groups including People Over Profit, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) and Ibon Foundation met with Philippine trade officials on September 4 to express their strong opposition to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), ahead of the 5th ministerial talks in Manila on September 10.
September 6, 2017: Adam Wolfenden from the Pacific Network on Globalisation has written an excellent opinion piece questioning why PACER-Plus is so high on the priority agenda at the annual Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting in Samoa this month.
September 1. 2017: Trade negotiators from 11 of the original 12 TPP countries met in Sydney from August 28-30 for their third set of talks to see if the TPP can be revived without the US, aiming to complete talks by November this year. The 11 countries are Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
August 29, 2017: Dr Patricia Ranald, Convenor of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, and University of Sydney Research Associate, explains why governments should not revive the zombie TPP.
Media Release August 28, 2017: Community groups will rally today outside a meeting of trade negotiators from 11 of the original 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries* who are discussing whether the TPP can be revived without the US, and how much the text should be changed.
“Trade Minister Ciobo should not be supporting revival of the dead TPP without change when there is strong community opposition and the Australian Parliament has not endorsed it,” said Dr Patricia Ranald, convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET).
Public health and other community organisations from most TPP countries have also written to all TPP ministers warning that TPP provisions would have serious consequences for the health of the people in TPP countries.