TPP: Threat and betrayal

(Above: Japanese farmers protest against the TPP)

On October 25, Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb hosted ministerial meetings of the 12 countries negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the latest “free trade” deal inspired and orchestrated by US imperialism.

Countries involved are Australia, the US, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, Peru, Chile, Brunei and New Zealand. The meetings were called to finalise negotiations prior to signing formalities scheduled for November 8.

 (Above: Malaysians protest against the TPP)

The TPP threatens Australian jobs and living standards, as well as hard-won social benefits such as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). It allows open slather for foreign corporations to trash laws and regulations protecting the environment and public health, and undermines fundamental democratic rights.

Wikileaks has recently exposed the draft text of the investment chapter and the negotiating positions of the countries involved on the issues of copyright and patents, and no surprise, Australia is in lock-step with US imperialism as other countries are bullied into line.

US imperialism wants to impose criminal penalties for disclosure of ‘trade secrets’ that lead to “commercial advantage or financial gain” or benefit “a foreign economic entity” or “are detrimental to a (TPP) party’s economic interests, international relations or national defence or national security.”

This is aimed not just at commercial espionage, but most pointedly at journalists, activists and whistle-blowers who, for example, attempt to expose the taxations rorts and environmental damage of many large corporations.

Even though Robb has promised not to accept “an outcome that would adversely affect the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme”, the draft text on copyright allows for the extension of patents for very minor changes to a drug, preventing the introduction of cheaper ‘generic’ drugs and maintaining the high cost monopoly of the foreign drug companies.

The copyright provisions of the draft text also provide for criminal penalties for non-commercial infringements of “intellectual property” such as downloads of films and music, and even the use of patented medical procedures! It seeks to extend up to 100 years the copyright laws for authors, again with the threat of enforceable penalties.

To make matters worse, the full text of the agreement will be hidden from the people (and even parliament) until after it is signed off by Cabinet.

None of this is in the interests of the Australian people and the people of the Pacific region. It stifles the spread of knowledge and limits the sovereign rights of countries to protect their people and their environment. It only serves US corporate greed and facilitates the further penetration and takeover of the Australian economy by the multinationals.

If the Abbott government goes ahead and signs this trade deal, it will be a major betrayal of the Australian people, comparable to the notorious Brisbane Line of World War 2.

 

Support the TPP protest rallies in the capital cities on November 8.