The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a massive free trade agreement involving Australia and ten other Pacific Rim countries, which reduces our democratic rights while increasing the rights of global corporations. The TPP is bad for:
After six years of community campaigning, the withdrawal of the US in January 2017 meant the original TPP-12 could not proceed, but the 11 remaining governments suspended some clauses and rebadged it as the Comprenensive Progressive TPP or TPP-11, which was signed in March 2018 and approved for ratification by the Australian Parliament in October 2018, If six of the eleven countries ratify it before the end of 2018, it will come into force for those countries in 2019.
For in-depth analysis and resources, including AFTINET’s submissions to parliamentary inquiries, click here.
Updated October 2018
September 20, 2017: A new economic study has completely undermined previous claims that the Trans-Pacific partnership agreement without access to the giant US market would still result in significant economic gains for the remaining 11 countries.
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 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.
Media Release September 1, 2017: “Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo’s call for minimal changes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership text appears to have been rejected by the other TPP 11 negotiators who met in Sydney this week. Instead the 11 governments* have agreed to suspend controversial clauses on medicine monopolies and some governments want to renegotiate other clauses. This vindicates community concerns that that many TPP clauses are not in the public interest,” AFTINET convener Dr Patricia Ranald said today..
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.
August 24, 2017: Public health and other community organisations from most TPP countries have written to all TPP ministers warning that TPP provisions would have serious consequences for the health of the people in countries, the availability of affordable medicines, the ability of foreign corporations to sue governments over health protection laws, and the processes for approving pharmaceuticals for subsidies.
The open letter has been signed by prominent international and national health bodies, including the World Federation of Public Health Associations and the Public Health Association of Australia. The letter advises the ministers that “the only truly acceptable approach to ensure adequate and effective protection of health and access to affordable medicines in all TPP11 countries is to renegotiate the whole TPP”.
Health, consumer and patient groups who have signed include Médecins Sans Frontières, HIV/AIDs groups from Vietnam and Malaysia, the Latin American Alliance for access to medicines, and medical workers associations, consumers and unions from Australia, Japan and many other TPP11 countries.
The 11 remaining countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership are continuing to meet in an effort to revive this failed agreement. They missed their deadline of November 11 2017, and the talks were only salvaged by an agreement to rename the deal, suspend some of its most controversial clauses and to have further talks over several months on issues raised by Canada and other governments.
Send a message to the Australian Trade Minister Steven Ciobo telling him not to revive the zombie TPP!
August 23, 2017: Bernard Keane in Crikey has summarised a recent Productivity Commission report that strongly criticises the Australian government’s approach to free trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The report condemned Australia’s refusal to independently evaluate the supposed benefits of the TPP, its willingness to include investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), and the secret nature of the negotiations.
