‘Grave risks’ in secrecy over TTP plans

As the final round of ministerial talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership resumed on Sunday, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote to each of the 12 participating nations, warning that the deal and the secrecy surrounding it presented “grave risks,” according to a story by economics correspondent Peter Martin, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Australian government has refused the Senate access to the text of the trade deal it is negotiating, saying it will be made public only after it has been signed.

But Australia’s delegate, Trade Minister Andrew Robb, has told Fairfax Media he is prepared to agree to so-called “investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions” in return for access to markets including those of the U.S., Japan and Canada.

The provisions, rejected by the previous Labor government, allow foreign corporations to sue sovereign governments.

Robb agreed to ISDS provisions in order to clinch the South Korea-Australia free trade agreement announced last week but with what he said were “carve-outs” in “areas such as public welfare, health and the environment.”