Tag Archives: Transatlantic Trade & investment Partnership

WikiLeaks Strikes Again: Leaked TISA Docs Expose Corporate Plan For Reshaping Global Economy

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Leaked Docs reveal that little-known corporate treaty poised to privatize and deregulate public services across globe

By Sarah Lazare, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published June 3, 2015

"It’s a dark day for democracy when we are dependent on leaks like this for the general public to be informed of the radical restructuring of regulatory frameworks that our governments are proposing," said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now. (Image created by Common Dreams)

“It’s a dark day for democracy when we are dependent on leaks like this for the general public to be informed of the radical restructuring of regulatory frameworks that our governments are proposing,” said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now. (Image created by Common Dreams)

An enormous corporate-friendly treaty that many people haven’t heard of was thrust into the public limelight Wednesday when famed publisher of government and corporate secrets, WikiLeaks, released 17 documents from closed-door negotiations between countries that together comprise two-thirds of the word’s economy.

Analysts warn that preliminary review shows that the pact, known as the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), is aimed at further privatizing and deregulating vital services, from transportation to healthcare, with a potentially devastating impact for people of the countries involved in the deal, and the world more broadly. Continue reading →

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Food, Water, Health, Life: UN Experts Warn of Threats Posed by Secret ‘Trade’ Deals

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‘All draft treaty texts should be published so that Parliamentarians and civil society have sufficient time to review them and to weigh the pros and cons in a democratic manner,’ say officials

Written by Sarah Lazare, staff writer for CommonDreams. Published 6-2-2015.

The human rights stakes are too high to keep so-called "free trade" deals secret, say UN experts. (Photo: Jerrick Romero-Backbone Campaign/flickr/cc)

The human rights stakes are too high to keep so-called “free trade” deals secret, say UN experts. (Photo: Jerrick Romero-Backbone Campaign/flickr/cc)

Echoing the protests of civil society organizations and social movements around the world, a panel of United Nations experts on Tuesday issued a stark warning about the threats that secret international “trade” agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pose to the most fundamental human rights.

“Our concerns relate to the rights to life, food, water and sanitation, health, housing, education, science and culture, improved labor standards, an independent judiciary, a clean environment and the right not to be subjected to forced resettlement,” reads the statement, whose ten signatories include Ms. Catalina Devandas Aguilar, Special Rapporteur on the rights of person with disabilities and Ms. Victoria Lucia Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples. Continue reading →

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Is US Trade Rep a Wall Street Crony? Groups Demand Transparency.

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Public interest watchdogs say Americans deserve to know what US top trade negotiator Michael Froman ‘has been privately saying to big banks’

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published May 28, 2015

US Trade Representative Michael Froman, the groups note, “received a more than $4 million golden parachute from Citigroup upon leaving the large financial institution to join the Obama administration in 2009.” (Photo: US Institute of Peace/flickr/cc)

Noting deep ties between the country’s top trade negotiator and Wall Street banks, ten groups representing millions of Americans are calling on the White House to make public all communications between U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the massive financial institutions that stand to benefit from proposed trade deals.

In a letter (pdf) addressed to Froman—lead champion of President Barack Obama’s corporate-friendly trade agenda—groups including National People’s Action, Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth, and CREDO Action request “the prompt, voluntary, and proactive disclosure of all records of communication between yourself and representatives of the ten largest U.S. financial institutions—including lobbyists, employees, and trade associations—during your tenure as U.S. Trade Representative.”

Those financial institutions include JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup. Continue reading →

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As Bills Advance, Will Grassroots Resistance Finally Overcome Fast Track Push?

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Grassroots and labor groups to hold week of action calling on Democratic lawmakers to block secretive trade pact

Under fast track, 'fast' is little more than a euphemism for 'avoid the public, and benefit the fortunate few,' warns Ohio State law professor Margot Kaminski. (Photo: Backbone Campaign/cc/flickr)

Under fast track, ‘fast’ is little more than a euphemism for ‘avoid the public, and benefit the fortunate few,’ warns Ohio State law professor Margot Kaminski. (Photo: Backbone Campaign/cc/flickr)

Written by Lauren McCauley, staff writer for CommonDreams, published April 14, 2015.

Signaling that loud grassroots resistance may be working, congressional Democrats are failing to get behind the White House’s push for unilateral authority over the secretive 12-nation trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to news reports on Tuesday.

At issue is whether the House will approve a pending bill that would grant President Barack Obama ‘Fast Track’ trade promotion authority, which would allow the White House to bypass Congress and seal the deal on the controversial TPP. Continue reading →

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Tough to swallow: TTIP’s threat to our food and farming

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For the sake of our food and its impact on our environment, TTIP needs to be stopped.

Written by Magda Stoczkiewicz. Published February 26, 2015 in OpenDemocracy.

TTIP protest in London, July 2014. Photo by World Developement Movment [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

TTIP protest in London, July 2014. Photo by World Development Movement [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

For a decade, dozens of trade deals have been negotiated, signed and implemented without garnering much public attention in Europe. So what is it about the EU-US trade deal, currently being hammered out, that has caused such an outcry?

The opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, has surprised many. 50,000 marched in protest on a cold winter’s morning in Berlin. Municipalities across France have declared themselves “TTIP-free”. The Slovak Food Chamber demanded that food and farming be excluded from any deal. Nearly 1.5 million people have signed a petition to have the negotiations stopped.

Environmental, social and labour groups across Europe – Friends of the Earth Europe included – are outraged and actively campaigning. Continue reading →

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