Dr. Patricia Ranald, Director of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET) argues that the TPP is about giving new rights to global multinationals and removing the rights of governments to regulate in the public interest.
Ranald describes why the TPP is terrible for national health systems:
The agreement locks in even more monopoly rights on “data protection” for expensive biologic medicines which treat cancer and other life-threatening diseases, and cost thousands of dollars per treatment… an obscure clause in the TPP requires administrative measures which would deliver a “market outcome” equivalent to an extra three years of monopoly.
Ranald also goes into the impact of the proposed Investor State Dispute Settlement process:
And all international companies from TPP countries will gain the right to bypass national courts and claim compensation of hundreds of millions of dollars from governments in unfair international tribunals, if they can argue that a domestic law or policy will harm their investment. This is known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS.
She briefly situations the likes of which we do not want happening in NZ: A pharmaceutical giant suing Canada for hundreds of millions over national legislation governing copyrights; and another vast multlinational country suing Egypt for raising the minimum wage. That company, Veolia, operates in New Zealand running water and transport infrastructure projects.
