[CTC] Second batch of statements on TPP signing

Wed Feb 3 15:54:40 PST 2016

More statements in response to the TPP signing from the Center for Food Safety, NETWORK, Pride at Work, Public Citizen, OpenMedia, Sierra Club, Washington Fair Trade Coalition, Rep. Kaptur and Senator Sanders...

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/4219/tpp-deal-jeopardizes-food-safety-and-public-health <http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/4219/tpp-deal-jeopardizes-food-safety-and-public-health>

February 3rd, 2016

TPP Deal Jeopardizes Food Safety and Public Health
Center for Food Safety urges Congress to oppose trade deal
WASHINGTON, DC—Center for Food Safety today condemned New Zealand’s signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, which would lower food safety standards and public health protections in the U.S. and across the globe. The deal was negotiated by 12 Pacific countries, including the U.S., representing around 40 percent of the global economy. Center for Food Safety is calling on Congress to oppose the deal and not ratify it in the U.S.

“This trade agreement will set food safety and environmental standards back decades,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director at Center for Food Safety. “It will be a race to the bottom as governments are forced to sacrifice food safety regulations in order to appease multi-national corporations. We will join with our allies from labor to environmental groups to ensure that this treaty is not ratified by Congress.”

One of the most concerning aspects of the TPP is the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, an extrajudicial legal body that allows private corporations to sue national governments over rules that companies believe inhibit their profit-making ability.  Any U.S. food safety rules on GMOs, labeling, pesticides, animal drugs, or additives that TPP member nations believe violate the agreement could be subject to challenge as "illegal trade barriers.”

“This closed-door tribunal where attorneys can rotate between acting as judges and as advocates for investors is where corporations will test the language and intent of the TPP agreement,” said Debbie Barker, international programs director at Center for Food Safety. “History shows us that corporations use these trade courts to lower standards on food safety, the environment, and workers.  If Congress ratifies TPP it will be handing over more power to corporations and abandoning its duty to safeguard people.”

Center for Food Safety, along with other experts, have warned that the agreement compromises food safety and public health, most notably through measures pertaining to U.S. border inspection of food imports. The agreement limits food import inspections “to what is reasonable and necessary,” and—perhaps most alarming—requires border inspectors to notify food importers if a negative food safety check is issued so they can challenge the port inspection findings. This measure, known as the Rapid Response Mechanism, which was aggressively pushed by big food industry throughout the TPP negotiations, gives new rights to countries importing food into the U.S. and could potentially include the right to challenge even laboratory food safety testing and the new food import rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act. The TPP language could also dissuade rigorous oversight of imported foods, including inspection of fish <http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/tpp-and-seafood-fact-sheet_93124.pdf> imported from TPP member countries that raise farmed fish with chemicals and antibiotics not allowed in the U.S.

###

 NETWORK statement on the TPP signing tonight

NETWORK's Sister Simone Comments on Signing of Trans-Pacific Partnership

"Trade deals must uphold the common good rather than cater to the special interests.”

About today's signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in New Zealand, Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby group, made the following comments:

"The TPP will not improve the lives of people at the margins of society. Trade deals must uphold the common good rather than cater to the special interests.

President Obama promised the American people a twenty-first century agreement – an agreement that protects the environment, protects workers, and upholds the rights of governments to ensure the health and safety of its citizens.  This agreement fails to deliver on that promise.

This agreement, negotiated in secret and crafted largely with and for the benefit of large multinational corporations and their lobbyists, reveals the worst part of politics: powerful economic rights once again trump the rights of workers, small farmers, patients seeking health care, and the environment.

Major trade deals in the past have had severe consequences for under-developed and developing nations around the world. Our Sisters in the United States and around the globe tell us that these trade agreements have severely damaged fragile communities and further increased economic inequality.

Malaysia has a significant human trafficking problem.  While the TPP asks that countries to change their laws to comply with basic standards of justice, it fails miserably to provide adequate enforcement tools to hold that government accountable.  As history has shown in trade agreements with Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, words alone do not fix significant human and labor rights abuses.  Twenty-first century agreements need rigorous enforceable mechanisms to ensure compliance; these are life and death issues for workers and human trafficking victims.

The rules of the global economy must be rules that work for the benefit of all, rather than rules that work for a privileged few.   This agreement provides protections for investor rights while failing to provide the same rights to workers and communities.

It is now up to Congress to stop this agreement. Congress must answer Pope Francis’s call to say no to ‘an economy of exclusion’ by rejecting the TPP.”

###

NETWORK, a national Catholic Social Justice lobby, which educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation, has a more than 40-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good.

For Immediate Release: February 3, 2016

Contact: Jerame Davis, jdavis at prideatwork.org <mailto:jdavis at prideatwork.org?can_id=928677a88931efa138c8ac40212f96f2&source=email-release-a-new-threat-in-global-fight-against-hivaids-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-trade-deal&email_referrer=release-a-new-threat-in-global-fight-against-hivaids-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-trade-deal&email_subject=release-a-new-threat-in-global-fight-against-hivaids-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-trade-deal&link_id=0&can_id=e1a4913266581f3f8d86cff14ce4efe2&email_referrer=tpp-signing-undermines-us-commitment-to-lgbtq-equality-and-the-fight-against-hivaids&email_subject=tpp-signing-undermines-us-commitment-to-lgbtq-equality-and-the-fight-against-hivaids&link_id=0>, 202-637-5014

TPP Signing Undermines U.S. Commitment to LGBTQ Equality and the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

Washington – Today, in Auckland, New Zealand, US Trade Representative Michael Froman, along with his counterparts from other Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries, will sign the secretly negotiated trade deal despite numerous flaws, significant opposition, and an unclear path for passage in the US Congress. Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, issued the following statement in response:

“Though the Administration and Ambassador Froman, in particular, have tried to spin this trade deal as ‘progressive’ we fail to see how throwing LGBTQ people and those living with HIV/AIDS under the bus can possibly meet that standard. There is nothing progressive about giving countries like Brunei and Malaysia, where LGBTQ people are beaten, jailed, and in some cases killed, preferential access to our economy. Of course, it’s also hard to find anything progressive in extending patents for life-saving drugs – unless you’re referring to the rising costs of HIV/AIDS therapy.

“We are extremely dismayed that our repeated attempts to address this with the Administration went unanswered, but there is still hope. TPP must still be approved by Congress and there is a great deal of reticence among lawmakers of conscience about the myriad problems with this ill-conceived trade agreement.

“Trade is not inherently bad. Done right, it can create well-paying jobs, drive innovation, and improve the quality of life for trading partners. The TPP will do none of this. Why are we sacrificing our commitment to equality and, potentially, the lives of countless people living with HIV/AIDS for a deal that will ship jobs overseas, further harm the environment, unravel our privacy rights, and increase the amount of uninspected, tainted food in our food supply? Are we really so single-mindedly focused on the profits of multi-national corporations and wealthy CEOs that nothing else matters?

“Just look at the coalition Ambassador Froman and the Administration are cobbling together to support this deal. Wall Street, the Chamber of Commerce, and some of the worst opponents of progressive values are supporting this deal while pretty much the entire progressive coalition has lined up against it: labor unions, environmental groups, food safety groups, privacy groups, and faith leaders, as well as LGBTQ and other civil rights organizations.

“There is nothing good for working people in this deal, LGBTQ or otherwise. Today’s signing isn’t the end of the fight. Opposition continues to grow in Congress and the President’s own party is lining up against the deal. Pride at Work will continue to be vigilant and vocal in our opposition to this disastrous trade agreement.”

###

Pride At Work is a nonprofit organization and an officially recognized constituency group of the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations.) We organize mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBT Community for social and economic justice. In addition to national Pride at Work, more than 20 Chapters organize at the state and local level around the country.

For Immediate Release:                                                              Contact:
Feb. 3, 2016                                                                            Nicholas Florko, (202) 454-5108,  
             nflorko at citizen.org <mailto:nflorko at citizen.org>

On TPP Signing Day, Activists Urge Congress to ‘Let It Go’; Frozen Themed Performance Kicks Off 48 Hours of Anti-TPP Protests Around the World

Fair Trade Princess Ilsa Performs Her Rendition of ‘TPP: Let It Go’ Accompanied by a Cast of Dozens of Frosty Friends

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As representatives of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries gather in New Zealand to officially sign the controversial agreement, activists today at the National Press Club delivered a clear message to Congress: “Let It Go.” 

In a Broadway-style performance of a parody version of the Frozen anthem, Fair Trade Princess Ilsa kicked off 48 hours of national and international anti-TPP demonstrations with her rendition of “TPP: Let It Go.” Today’s event will kick off a very chilly year for the TPP in Congress, where the pact’s fate is at best uncertain. All U.S. presidential candidates with more than 5 percent support in any state oppose the deal, and vibrant TPP opposition movements are growing across the country and around the world.

Download the royalty-free video: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z6rzhs99xyp5cbt/AAD46IcVOPK1ClokqLSHEuoHa?dl=0 <https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z6rzhs99xyp5cbt/AAD46IcVOPK1ClokqLSHEuoHa?dl=0>
Download the royalty-free photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v0g2uj3lxyhayql/AABAFx5cg47Hzq4qhD4ODrO6a?dl=0 <https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v0g2uj3lxyhayql/AABAFx5cg47Hzq4qhD4ODrO6a?dl=0>
Hear the song: https://soundcloud.com/global-trade-watch/tpp-let-it-go <https://soundcloud.com/global-trade-watch/tpp-let-it-go>  

The TPP parody song spotlights the secrecy of TPP negotiations and the role of the 500 official U.S. trade advisers mainly representing corporate interests. Fair Trade Princess Ilsa sang about how the TPP would make it easier to offshore more American jobs and increase inequality with Americans who would be put into more direct competition with workers in Vietnam who make 65 cents an hour: 

“The TPP is all about greed
Corporations wrote the rules
Offshore jobs, lower wages
and democracy overruled”

Fair Trade Princess Ilsa, a proponent of access to affordable medicines for patients across the globe, took PhRMA to task:

“TPP would raise the price of meds
keeping the sick dying in their beds”

Today’s “TPP: Let It Go” performance marks the beginning of protests and anti-TPP demonstrations in 30 cities across the United States and in TPP signatory countries, including a major march protesting the TPP signing ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand. With respect to the strength of the anti-TPP movement, Fair Trade Princess Ilsa sang:

“Our power’s growing, the opposition is so strong
From climate to human rights, the TPP is wrong
We won’t stand by and let the corporations win
The TPP will end up in history’s trash bin”

Before Fair Trade Princess Ilsa concluded her brief appearance at the National Press Club, after being rained out of her original performance venue in front of the White House, she had one clear message for Congress:

“Let it go! Let it go!
Our movement is gonna soar
Let it go! Let it go!
‘Til the TPP is no more

Here we stand
and to Congress we say:
on TPP, vote no…
… or you better watch out on Election Day!”

###

For Immediate Release 

As TPP is signed in Auckland casino, campaigners vow “final battle” to prevent massive deal being ratified
Experts warn that extreme TPP intellectual property rules will cost Canadian economy billions, undermine digital rights, and restrict freedom of expression online

February 3, 2016 – The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has just been signed by Trade Ministers representing Canada and 11 other TPP nations encompassing over 40% of the global economy. A range of experts have warned that the TPP’s intellectual property chapter will undermine digital rights, restrict freedom of expression, and cause billions <http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/jim-balsillie-tpp-1.3310179> in economic damage. 

Today’s signing ceremony, which took place in Auckland’s Sky City Casino, does not mean the TPP has come into force; that will require at least 6 nations to formally ratify it. In Canada’s case, the government has promised a debate and vote in Parliament. Digital rights group OpenMedia is vowing to wage nation-by-nation campaigns to prevent the TPP coming into force.

“The TPP is an extreme deal that will censor the Web, criminalize our online activities, and cost us money,” says Meghan Sali, Digital Rights Specialist with OpenMedia. “A casino is a fitting backdrop for industry lobbyists and government bureaucrats to gamble away our digital future. That said, this deal still needs to be ratified, so today really marks the start of the final stage of our campaign to reject the TPP once and for all. Millions are speaking out, and we won’t let their voices be ignored.”

Key criticisms of the TPP intellectual property chapter’s impact on digital rights include:

It forces all 12 TPP nations to adopt harsh U.S.-style copyright rules, including an economically damaging extension of copyright terms to life-of-creator plus 70 years. (source <http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2016/01/the-trouble-with-the-tpp-day-3-copyright-term-extension/>: Prof. Michael Geist)
Its restrictive Digital Rights Management (DRM) provisions will hamper innovation, cause people to lose autonomy over their own devices, and make it harder for new artists to remix and create new works. (source <https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/how-tpp-will-affect-you-and-your-digital-rights>: EFF) 
Its impact on the digital economy will mean fewer jobs and greater inequality, and will cause the TPP’s two largest economies — the U.S. and Japan — to shrink as a result of the deal. (source <http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/wp/16-01Capaldo-IzurietaTPP_ES.pdf>: Tufts University)
Blackberry co-founder Jim Balsillie warns <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/for-canadian-innovators-will-tpp-mean-protection-or-colonialism/article28462854/> that the TPP will hamper Canadian innovation and put Canada on a path to relying too heavily on a resource-based economy for prosperity: “When Canada diligently follows U.S. and European demands for stronger IP protection, we create greater leverage and prosperity for large foreign companies with pre-existing intellectual property rights positions, which further entrenches and extends their profits at our expense.”

Following today’s signing ceremony, OpenMedia is urging citizens across the world to speak up at https://act.openmedia.org/finalbattle <https://act.openmedia.org/finalbattle> 

About OpenMedia

OpenMedia works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. We create community-driven campaigns to engage, educate, and empower people to safeguard the Internet.

-30-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016
Contact: Dan Byrnes (202) 495-3039 <tel:%28202%29%20495-3039> or daniel.byrnes at sierraclub.org <mailto:daniel.byrnes at sierraclub.org>
View as webpage <https://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2016/02/sierra-club-signing-tpp-trade-deal-gambling-away-our-future>
Sierra Club: Signing TPP trade deal is gambling away our future
AUCKLAND, NZ -- At a casino in Auckland, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, setting the clock ticking for President Obama to send the deeply flawed deal to Congress for approval.
For years, the Sierra Club has reported on <https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/dirty-deal.pdf> and campaigned against the TPP’s threats to our air, water, climate, families, and communities.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“The U.S. Trade Representative is gambling away our jobs, our clean air and water, and our future by pushing the polluter-friendly Trans-Pacific Partnership, so it only makes sense that it was signed in a casino. Signing the TPP is Russian roulette for our economy and our climate.
“Today’s trade rules are rigged, like a bad game of blackjack, to favor powerful big polluters and other greedy corporations. Just look at TransCanada. That Big Oil company is suing the American people under NAFTA for $15 billion as ‘compensation’ for the Keystone XL decision that spared us the threat of increased climate disruption and dirty, dangerous oil spills. The TPP sweetens the pot for many more foreign fossil fuel corporations, empowering them to follow TransCanada’s bad example of challenging our climate protections in private trade tribunals.
“Thankfully, it’s not too late to stop this toxic deal. Congress holds the trump card on the widely unpopular TPP, so now is the time to urge our representatives to reject the toxic trade deal and build a new model of trade that puts the health and safety of people before the profits of big corporations that are already polluting our air and water.”
###
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.4 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org <http://www.sierraclub.org/>.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 3rd, 2016
Contact: Victoria Leistman, Communications Associate, Washington Fair Trade Coalition (516)-650-7530 <tel:%28516%29-650-7530>, vleistman at gmail.com <mailto:vleistman at gmail.com>
Seattle joins International Day of Protest as Trans-Pacific Partnership is signed

Seattle, WA – Today, scores of protesters descended on the Federal Building with a message for Senators Murray and Cantwell: Oppose the TPP. The rally was part of an international day of protest that swept through cities in twelve countries around the Pacific Rim, as the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement was signed in Auckland. In Seattle and across the world, protesters called out the prominence of corporate interests in the deal, which could threaten laws we rely on for environmental protection, financial stability, affordable medicine safe food, and local jobs.

With the signing of the TPP, Congress could face a vote any day on whether or not to approve the agreement. Protesters were clear in their demand – a giant banner, raised into the air by a helium balloon to float outside the Senators’ offices, read “TPP = Betrayal.”

“We are tired of corporate interests stealing our jobs, ruining our environment, and undermining our health and security.” said Director of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition Gillian Locascio. “Now, the decision rests with U.S. Congress—accept this deal, or reject it and demand fair trade policy.”

As protesters gathered here, trade negotiators representing 12 countries, including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States, gathered in Auckland to sign the TPP. After the signing, the agreement will need to be ratified by each of the participating countries. 

In solidarity with protests occurring internationally, those present in Seattle represented the more than 70 Washington labor, faith, environmental, farmer and social justice groups that make up the fair trade coalition. 

“As a national network of students working in partnership with farmers, fishermen, and food chain workers, we are united in our concern that the TPP will threaten the progress we have made improving the equity and sustainability of our food system -- and contribute to the very problems we are working to change,” said West Regional Coordinator Estefania Narvaez of the Real Food Challenge, an organization involved in the coalition and that leverages the power of youth and universities to create a healthy, fair, and green food system.

Environmental and labor concerns are at the forefront of TPP opposition. Seattle Council member Mike O’Brien sponsored the Seattle resolution against fast tracking the TPP last year because of how the agreement would impact the Council’s ability to legislate on environmental and labor issues central to their work. The city is following up with a letter to members of Congress expressing their deep concerns about the TPP.

“Seattle supports fair trade agreements, but the Trans-Pacific Partnership proposal weakens conservation standards set in previous trade agreements and encourages our global dependence on fossil fuels,” said O’Brien. “Worse, the ISDS system threatens local laws designed to protect the public interest and our environment.”

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW 21) highlighted how expanded corporate rights in the TPP threaten issues at the heart of labor, food, and economic rights. Under a similar provision as that in the TPP, the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently ruled against the U.S. country of origin labeling law (COOL) for beef and pork, violating consumer rights in favor of corporate interests. 

"The recent WTO ruling in which US grocery store workers and customers will know less about the origins of meat, flies in the face of the growing public demand to know more about our food,” said Todd Crosby President of the UFCW 21. “The TPP threatens to further obscure the grocery supply chain by letting foreign companies challenge US labeling in secret tribunals, taking away our members’ and our communities’ right to know about their food." 

“The U.S. Chambers of Commerce announced that they are ‘rolling up their sleeves’ to pass TPP, so we are rolling up our sleeves to fight back,” said Locascio. “We are sending a message here in Washington and to the world—TPP is betrayal.” 
###

The Washington FairTrade Coalition (WFTC) <http://www.washingtonfairtrade.org/> is a coalition of 70 Washington labor, faith,

environmental, farmer, and social justice groups that are committed to creating a fair,

balanced, and sustainable global trading system.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 3, 2016
Contact: Matt Sonneborn, (202) 225-4146 or Matt.Sonneborn at mail.house.gov <mailto:Matt.Sonneborn at mail.house.gov>  

Rep. Kaptur Blasts USTR for Ceremonial Trade Deal Signing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-9) issued a stinging criticism of U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman following the announcement that he plans to participate in a signing ceremony in New Zealand for the Trans-Pacific Partnership later today.

“I strongly object to U.S. Trade Representative Froman’s decision to appear in New Zealand later today to ceremoniously sign an un-ratified draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. This sham performance will take place despite the fact that Congress has not voted for the job-killing TPP deal. Formal debate on the TPP is not even expected to start until after the Presidential election at the end of the year. Putting on a show in New Zealand does not change the fact that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be a job-killing disaster and does not have Congressional approval.

Time and again, America’s working families have been sold a bill of goods on trade. Today’s planned performance by the U.S. Trade Representative is no different. This kind of political theatre is highly inappropriate and insulting to millions of American workers and their families who depend on jobs that are directly threatened if the TPP is eventually adopted. Today’s events do further harm to this Administration’s credibility and strain the public trust. I strongly encourage my colleagues in Congress to join me in publicly rejecting this false, unconstitutional, and inappropriately-timed event.” 

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https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-vows-to-reject-job-killing-trade-deal/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=tw160203 <https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-vows-to-reject-job-killing-trade-deal/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=tw160203>

Sanders Vows to Reject Job-Killing Trade Deal
FEBRUARY 3, 2016
CONCORD, N.H. – As the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact was signed by the United States and 11 other countries, Bernie Sanders promised to “fundamentally rewrite our trade policies to benefit working families, not just the CEOs of large, multinational corporations.”

Sanders has opposed the Pacific trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement and permanent normal trade relations with China since day one. The North American Free Trade Agreement led to the loss of 700,000 jobs. The trade deal with China led to the loss of 3.2 million jobs. And since 2001, nearly 60,000 manufacturing plants have been shut down and 4.7 million jobs have been lost.

“Trade is a good thing. But trade has got to be fair. And the TPP is anything but fair,” Sanders said.

In addition to shipping thousands of jobs overseas, the Trans-Pacific Partnership would increase already skyrocketing drug prices and threaten American laws that protect the environment, workers and consumers.

“As your president, not only will I make sure that the TPP does not get implemented, I will not send any trade deal to Congress that will make it easier for corporations to outsource American jobs overseas,” Sanders said.

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