Media release, 9 March 2018: Dr Patricia Ranald, Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network called today for a Senate Inquiry to assess whether the rebadged Comprehensive Progressive TPP is in the public interest, before Parliament considers the implementing legislation.
March 8, 2018: After Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiators met in Singapore this week to continue talks, ASEAN sources have told journalists that they are working towards a ‘substantial conclusion’ in 2018.
Media release, 8 March 2018: Today in Chile on International Women’s Day, Australia and 10 other countries will sign a revised version of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, rebranded as the 'Comprehensive Progressive' TPP (CPTPP).
March 5, 2018: The inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the rebranded ‘Comprehensive Progressive’ Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), set for signing on March 8 in Chile, puts Australia’s democracy and sovereignty at risk.
March 1, 2018: The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has published new analysis about labour mobility under the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which is summarised in a Sydney Morning Herald article. They say Australia has done less than other partner countries to protect local jobs in the CPTPP.
22 February, 2018: Yesterday the New Zealand government published the full text of the ‘Comprehensive Progressive’ Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement, which Australia and 10 other countries intend to sign on March 8 in Chile, along with a National Interest Analysis of the deal.
Media release, February 21 2018: “The new text of the revised and rebranded Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership between Australia and 10 other countries without the US contains minor additional change since last November. Some other governments have demanded further changes, but the Australian government has not,” Dr Patricia Ranald, AFTINET Convener said today.
12 February 2018: The latest round of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement have just concluded in Jakarta. Japan, the second largest exporter of intellectual property in the world, is leading the push for extended intellectual property protections.
8 February, 2018: The Australian Information Commissioner has given the Federal Government 28 days to release the total legal costs in the Philip Morris tobacco plain packaging case against Australia. Outrageously, these costs were blacked out of the final tribunal decision on costs, presumably at the request of both parties. It has taken a long FOI battle initiated by Senator Rex Patrick (NXT) to achieve this result.