Backflip on Thailand TPP membership talks

Backflip on Thailand TPP membership talks
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In an apparent backflip on a proposed Thailand TPP membership application, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Saturday that she will not be discussing an application to join the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact with US President Barack Obama when he visits the country on Sunday.

Global Trade Pacts and the how the TPP fits in
Global Trade Pacts and the how the TPP fits in. Graphic: Reuters, courtesy Big Talk Money

Last Monday the Thai cabinet agreed to a proposal by the Ministry of Commerce  (MoC) to have Prime Minister Yingluck announce discussions of Thailand’s TPP membership application in a joint media briefing with President Obama. The announcement drew an immediate barrage of criticism from academics, elected officials, and activist groups.

Criticism and warnings on the negative effects TPP membership would have on the Thai services industry were first raised by the Thai Chamber of Commerce, with Thailand’s central bank also waving red flags.

On Friday a group of 13 health-related NGOs submitted an open letter to the Prime Minister, calling on the government to refrain from holding any discussions with the US over a possible TPP membership application by Thailand.

The letter said the government’s decision to negotiate a possible TPP membership application with the US will severely affect the country‚ economic and social stability, warning that the TPP  strongly favors the interests of US multinational companies.

Dramatic backflip on eve of presidential visit

The reaction has been such that from a position on Tuesday of “the government will hold a press conference to formally affirm its commitment to seek membership of the TPP”, to being one on Saturday where Prime Minister Yingluck was denying that any decision on the submission of a Thailand TPP membership application had been made.

Prior to leaving for the 21st Asean Summit in neighboring Cambodia, Ms Yingluck told journalists that the Commerce Ministry has simply been tasked to study the pros and cons and possible impacts of the pact in the event Thailand decided to apply for TPP membership.

Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will now not discuss Thailand's TPP membership application with US President Barack Obama during visit
Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will now not discuss Thailand’s TPP membership application with US President Barack Obama during visit. Photo: US Government

The Thai prime minister said any talks must be based on Thailand’s level of preparedness and the benefits that would result, adding that Thailand’s TPP membership application would need prior cabinet and parliamentary approval.

The TPP was first mooted in 2007 as an expansion of the 2005 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPSEP). It wallowed about in the trade pact wilderness for some time without much happening, until the US announced its intention to join in 2009.

At the time President Obama told Congress that US trade negotiators would shape a new kind of trade agreement for the 21st century, bringing home the jobs and economic opportunity we want all our trade deals to deliver. The US subsequently took on a dominating role in discussions from then, demanding open access for its products, but not being as generous in return.

Seven become 11

Despite more than 14 rounds of negotiations between the four original signatories – Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei – and the seven wanna-be members, the United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico, and Canada, no final agreement on the requirements and terms has been reached as yet.

Very little is known about the TPP apart from some controversial aspects of the 26 different provisions said to comprise the agreement, with these enough to see activists, scholars, human rights groups, and intellectual property watchdogs labeling the TPP as going way beyond the realms of tariff reduction and trade promotion.

There have been protests globally against the TPP, with groups such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), and Amnesty International (AI) widely condemning various aspects which they say will benefit US corporations, such as large pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of the poor and underprivileged.

There is also considerable fear that the TPP could compromise free speech on the internet and access to educational materials, while it is claimed that US negotiators are pursuing a TPP agreement that will require signatory countries to adopt heightened copyright protection that advances the agenda of the US entertainment industry.

 

 

Feature photo Mystic Politics

 

 

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John Le Fevre is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer and editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Most recently he was the Thailand editor/ managing editor of AEC News Today . Prior to that he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.

Opinions and views expressed on this site are those of the author’s only. Read more at About me

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