The Trans-Pacific Partnership could be closer than ever to happening, thanks to the US Congress agreeing to ‘fast track’ the TPP’s approval. Groups in the US fought long and hard to stop this, because they know it could speed up agreement on the TPP. But despite defeating the bill time and again, the new rules finally passed two weeks ago, making it much more likely TPP could go ahead.
Trans-Pacific Partnership: US Senate approves fast-track trade bill, sends to president Barack Obama, ABC, 24 June 2015
There are lots of things to dislike about TPP. It could jeopardise affordable medicine, access to a free internet, and effective measures to tackle climate change. But right now, we don’t even know how bad it could be – because the negotiators insist on keeping the deal under lock and key. The first step to stopping TPP once and for all is knowing the real truth of what we’re up against – and for that we need a public text.
It’s not all bad news, though. There are still powerful campaigns challenging TPP all over the world – making it hard for our governments to agree to the terms that the corporations would like.
See also July 10 https://www.haiasiapacific.org/?page_id=526