Environmental Groups Reject TPP, TPA Following Obama's Push on Trade
The investor-state settlement proposal in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks threatens to weaken environmental and other regulatory policies in TPP countries, said nearly 50 environmental groups in a Jan. 21 letter to members of Congress (here). TPP regulatory harmonization is also poised to scale back environmental and public health protections “by offering new opportunities for foreign governments and corporations to intervene early on in our rule-making process,” said the letter, signed by the Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch and others.
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President Barack Obama laid out his case for TPP in his State of the Union address (see 1501210016). His call provoked an outcry from House Democrats who have ramped up pressure against TPP and Trade Promotion Authority, also known as fast track.
The environmental groups also flatly rejected TPA. “This new, expansive, model of trade requires a more inclusive and open process to set the terms of how such pacts are negotiated, approved, and implemented,” said the letter. “The old fast track is simply not appropriate given the scope and subject matter covered by today’s pacts. Moreover, we believe it is particularly inappropriate to give fast track authority to agreements that are both far along in the negotiation process and that have been negotiated with an astonishing lack of transparency.”
TPA should be replaced with legislation that gives Congress a role in choosing trade partners, requires publication of negotiating texts and provides lawmakers the opportunity to approve or oppose trade negotiations before talks conclude, said the letter.