U.S. public health and medical groups applauded Malaysia's historic proposal to "carve out" tobacco from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPPA), a trade pact now being negotiated by the U.S. and 11 other nations.
Rising opposition and criticism towards the TPPA in Malaysia has caused delays in any final decision to allow time for studies to be done and the results be made public, according to an article in the Malaysian Insider.
Civil Society stakeholders who attended the Brunei round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are very disappointed that no formal report from the Chief Negotiators was presented, nor the opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions in a forum where all could hear the answers.
Read their media release here.
28/08/2013
The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, asks why Obama is caving on tobacco in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPPA) in an opinion piece published by the New York Times.
AFTINET's convener Dr Patricia Ranald spoke to ABC radio this morning from Brunei, where she is observing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) currently under negotiation.
Dr Ranald reports on the progress of the negotiation and talks about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) and how it could affect our health and environmental regulation, using the examples of tobacco and coal seam gas mining.
As negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) continue in Brunei, the Sydney Morning Herald's Peter Martin reports on the unresolved issues, including a tobacco clause which would allow tobacco companies the right to sue governments when nations put in place regulation in the interests of public health.
The Malaysian Reserve reports that the Malaysian Cabinet has dropped any timeline for finishing the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement following a campaign by a coalition of NGOS and the stance of the Malaysian Opposition, who express concerns that the TPP is mainly in the economic, business and geopolitical interests of the United States.
Proposals in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement for investor rights to sue governments threaten the ability of our governments to regulate in the interests of the public and the environment, including on Coal Seam Gas (CSG) issues.
Canada signed an agreement with the United States giving investors the right to sue governments in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Now, the US Lone Pine energy company is suing the provincial government of Quebec for $250 million because they imposed a moratorium on shale gas mining pending an environmental study. In a similar way, farmers and members of the community here have influenced the NSW and Victorian state governments to also adopt moratoriums to examine the impact of coal seam gas mining on land use and the environment. If the right for corporations to sue governments is agreed in these negotiations, our governments could be sued in the same way as the Quebec government.
This would undermine the ability of our community to insist upon environmental regulations to protect our communities and farmlands.
You can send a letter about this issue directly to Trade Minister Andrew Robb
For more information, see AFTINET's leaflet: Free Trade Agreement could prevent regulation of Coal Seam Gas mining
Writing for Canada's The Star, Michael Geist asks whether it matters where you store your electronic data - including your emails, documents and photos.
He is concerned about the potential for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement to prohibit governments from implementing privacy protections requiring that data is stored locally. He argues that this represents a privacy risk.
PACER-Plus negotiations towards a free trade agreement involving Australia, New Zealand and 14 of Pacific Island countries are underway this week in Port Vila, Vanuatu, and it is expected that trade in services will be discussed.
However, opening up all service 'markets' in vulnerable economies poses many threats to our island neighbours. Writing for Eureka Street, AFTINET campaigner Jemma Williams explains why.