TPP concerns voiced by 47 Australian groups

There is mounting opposition in Australia to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); opposition that mirrors that in the EU to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

According to a Scoop (New Zealand) story, an unusually diverse mix of 47 Australian community groups have written an open letter to the Trade Minister citing mounting evidence that the TPP is not in the national interest and demanding that the agreement’s text be released for public scrutiny before it is signed.

The groups include those with interests in public health, the environment, unions and workers’ rights, churches and development aid.

“The TPP talks have missed many deadlines over the last five years because community groups in many TPP countries have pressured governments to resist US proposals which would benefit US pharmaceutical, media, IT and tobacco industries at the expense of peoples’ rights,” Dr. Patricia Ranald, co-ordinator of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, was quoted as saying.

Concern was expressed that TPP proposals would extend monopolies on medicines and thereby delay access to cheaper generic products; that the TPP included no agreement on legally enforceable workers’ rights to organise and improve working conditions; and that the TPP would allow foreign investors to sue governments over changes to domestic laws aimed at protecting special places such as the Great Barrier Reef.

“The European Union has responded to community pressure and announced that it will publish the full text of the Trans-Atlantic trade deal [TTIP] between the EU and the US before it is signed,” said Ranald.

“Australia and other TPP countries should follow this example and agree to release the TPP text before it is signed for public and parliamentary debate. This is the only way to test if it is in the national interest.”