Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with the leaders of 11 other countries Monday (November 10) in Beijing to discuss the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Media reports suggest that there was progress in advancing the partnership, although the citizens’ group the Council of Canadians headlined the story on its website “Beijing summit fails to conclude Trans Pacific Partnership talks”.
“What we are seeing is momentum building around a Trans-Pacific Partnership that can spur greater economic growth, spur greater jobs growth, set high standards for trade and investment throughout the Asia-Pacific,” U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday.
According to the Council of Canadians “only a handful of the TPP’s expected 29 Chapters have anything to do with traditional trade issues like market access for goods. The rest deal with dictating how governments can regulate corporations, the length of pharmaceutical and copyright terms, rules on the Internet and the sharing of data across borders, and rules for the financial sector.”
The secrecy surrounding the actual content of the agreement has prompted politicians from a number of countries, including Canada, to sign a joint statement posted on the Internet in February of this year:
“We, the undersigned legislators from countries involved in the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, call on the parties to publish the draft text of the agreement before any final agreement is signed with sufficient time to enable effective legislative scrutiny and public debate.”
More information:
Vancouver Sun – Fisher: Global leaders draw closer on Trans-Pacific Partnership following Beijing talks – here
Council of Canadians – Beijing summit fails to conclude Trans Pacific Partnership talks – here
TPP Legislators for Transparency website – www.tppmpsfortransparency.org
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