27 Jul, 2015
Secrecy of TPP talks fuels concern about influence of corporate property lobby
AFP-JIJI, Jul 26, 2015, WASHINGTON – Higher costs for needed generic drugs. Longer copyright protections than the global standard. Foreign investors empowered to overrule governments. A more tightly-regulated Internet.
Those are just some of the potential pitfalls from any deal that could emerge from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-nation free trade and investment pact shrouded in secrecy as negotiations head into the final stage in Hawaii this week.
A handful of draft chapters of the TPP, leaked via WikiLeaks, have highlighted the proposed treaty’s heavy emphasis on expanding protections for corporate rights and assets like intellectual property — patents, copyrights and databases — that are far more valuable to corporations of advanced economies than traditional cargo trade.
Read the rest: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/26/business/economy-business/tight-secrecy-surrounding-tpp-trade-deal-leads-increased-suspicions-worries/#.VbWX3UUygcP
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