Will consumer interests be protected in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)? In the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) Ministerial Meeting statement released at the summit , all APEC countries agreed to “facilitate trade in products derived from innovative agricultural technologies.” “Innovative agricultural technologies” include genetically modified seeds that often raise costs and financial risks for small farmers in developing countries while racking up profits for a select few corporations. Add to that a commitment to “advance regulatory convergence and cooperation” that emphasizes the economic costs, rather than the societal benefits, of regulation and it sounds like a recipe for less protection for citizens and more rights for Big Business. The TPP Trade Ministers’ Report to Leaders seems to indicate that the goal is to increase trade for trade’s sake. In particular, the text reads:
Regulatory and other non-tariff barriers increasingly are the major hurdles that companies face in gaining access to foreign markets. To address these barriers, we have agreed to work to improve regulatory practices, eliminate unnecessary barriers, reduce regional divergence in standards, promote transparency, conduct our regulatory processes in a more trade-facilitative manner, eliminate redundancies in testing and certification and promote cooperation on specific regulatory issues.
There is no mention of the prime importance of avoiding the toxic pet food, toothpaste and lead-coated toy scandals of recent years. In fact, food safety is only noted in a sentence that ensures the TPP will “build upon existing WTO [World Trade Organization] rights and obligations,” obligations that already have interfered with U.S. laws on dolphin-safe tuna labeling and country-of-origin labels on beef.
The AFL-CIO is gravely concerned that the TPP will be another agreement that provides numerous rights and benefits to big corporations while failing to deliver promised opportunities to America’s working families. If you have concerns about the TPP, now is the time to speak up—the TPP is still being negotiated.
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