Campaigns

Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)

The TPPA is a proposed regional free trade agreement between the US, Australia, New Zealand, and eight other countries around the Pacific Rim, including some developing countries. Like most trade negotiations, the TPPA talks are heavily influenced by business, and held in secret. There is some consultation with community groups, but it is limited because the negotiating text is not made public. Leaked documents show proposals which will affect the lives of millions.

These include increased patent rights for corporations to charge higher medicine prices for longer, reduced rights for governments to ensure affordable medicine prices, and internet restrictions through copyright rules with criminal penalties. US business also wants less local content in Australian audio visual media and no labelling of GE food. They also want special rights for corporations to sue governments over health and environment regulation.

AFTINET campaigns against these proposals and for fair trade based on human rights, labour rights, and environmental sustainability.

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PACER-PLUS

The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations - Plus (PACER-Plus) is a proposed regional free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and 14 Pacific Island Countries. Many of these are small vulnerable economies facing problems like rising sea levels resulting from climate change. Any regional free trade agreement that covers trade in goods, services and foreign investment needs detailed research on different sectors and industries that will be affected by greater trade liberalisation – yet very few studies have looked at the effect of PACER-Plus on specific industries. AFTINET calls on the Australian government to focus its resources on development in the Pacific Islands rather than trade negotiations.

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World Trade Organisation

The WTO aims to liberalise international trade in goods and services, through removing tariffs, restricting or removing government regulation, and by increasing intellectual property rights. The WTO has attracted widespread criticism and protest for the neo-liberal free market policies that it promotes, along with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The neo-liberal model of development has encouraged the growth of free trade zones in developing countries, based on poor working conditions and low environmental standards, promoting a race to the bottom to attract investors. AFTINET believes that the WTO should develop a fair multilateral trade system which enables governments to regulate in the public interest, gives real recognition to the needs of developing countries and is based on United Nations agreements on human rights, labour rights and the environment.

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