Miriam, Abdulah and All,
This TPP report is a classic example of how we are being spoon fed
our, "News". But even so, I struggle to understand how we Chickens
can allow the Foxes to wander about, lying over and over as they pluck
us up, one by one and head for the stew pot.
Can it be that too many of us still want to believe the Rags to Riches
Fairy Tale that has been foisted on us all these years by the very
foxes who are now moving in for the final kill?
Carl Jarvis
On 10/5/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Here's an example of how words can mislead. You can't tell, from this
article, how very dangerous some of the items in this treaty are. And it
omits the actual number of years for copyrights on medications. It
describes the treaty as if it were actually about free trade.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 9:47 AM
To: blind-democracy
Subject: [blind-democracy] Officials Reach Deal On Trans-Pacific
Partnership
Officials Reach Deal On Trans-Pacific Partnership Reuters
Posted: 10/05/2015 08:11 AM EDT | Edited: 15 minutes ago
By Krista Hughes and Kevin Krolicki
ATLANTA, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Pacific trade ministers have reached a deal on
the most sweepingtrade liberalization pact in a generation that will cut
trade barriers and set common standards for 12 countries, an official
familiar with the talks said on Monday.
Leaders from a dozen Pacific Rim nations are poised to announce the pact
later on Monday. The deal could reshape industries and influence everything
from the price of cheese to the cost of cancer treatments.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership would affect 40 percent of the world economy
and would stand as a legacy-defining achievement for U.S.
President Barack Obama,
if it is ratified by Congress.
Lawmakers in other TPP countries must also approve the deal.
The final round of negotiations in Atlanta, which began on Wednesday, had
snared on the question of how long a monopoly period should be allowed on
next-generation biotech drugs, until the United States and Australia
negotiated a compromise.
The TPP deal has been controversial because of the secret negotiations that
have shaped it over the past five years and the perceived threat to an
array
of interest groups from Mexican auto workers to Canadian dairy farmers.
Although the complex deal sets tariff reduction schedules on hundreds of
imported items from pork and beef in Japan to pickup trucks in the United
States, one issue had threatened to derail talks until the end - the length
of the monopolies awarded to the developers of new biological drugs.
Negotiating teams had been deadlocked over the question of the minimum
period of protection to the rights for data used to make biologic drugs,
made by companies including Pfizer Inc , Roche Group's Genentech and
Japan's
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.
The United States had sought 12 years of protection to encourage
pharmaceutical companies to invest in expensive biological treatments like
Genentech's cancer treatment Avastin. Australia, New Zealand and public
health groups had sought a period of five years to bring down drug costs
and
the burden on state-subsidized medical programs.
Negotiators agreed on a compromise on minimum terms that was short of what
U.S. negotiators had sought and that would effectively grant biologic drugs
a period of about years free from the threat of competition from generic
versions, people involved in the closed-door talks said.
The Washington, D.C.-based Biotechnology Industry Association said it was
"very disappointed" by reports that U.S. negotiators had not been able to
convince Australia and other TPP members to adopt the 12-year standard
approved by Congress.
"We will carefully review the entire TPP agreement once the text is
released
by the ministers," the industry lobby said in a statement.
FINAL HOURS
A politically charged set of issues surrounding protections for dairy
farmers was also addressed in the final hours of talks, officials said. New
Zealand, home to the world's biggest dairy exporter, Fonterra, wanted
increased access to U.S., Canadian and Japanese markets.
Separately, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan also agreed rules
governing the autotrade that dictate how much of a vehicle must be made
within the TPP region in order to qualify for duty-free status.
The North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the United States
and Mexico mandates that vehicles have a local content of 62.5 percent. The
way that rule is implemented means that just over half of a vehicle needs
to
be manufactured locally. It has been credited with driving a boom in
auto-related in investment in Mexico.
The TPP would give Japan's automakers, led by Toyota Motor Corp, a freer
hand to buy parts from Asia for vehicles sold in the United States but sets
long phase-out periods for U.S. tariffs on Japanese cars and light trucks.
The TPP deal being readied for expected announcement on Monday also sets
minimum standards on issues ranging from workers' rights to environmental
protection.
It also sets up dispute settlement guidelines between governments and
foreign investors separate from national courts.
(Reporting by Krista Hughes and Kevin Krolicki; Additional reporting by
Ana
Isabel Martinez in Mexico City; Editing by Will Waterman and Chizu
Nomiyama)
MORE:
Tpp,
Tpp Deal,
Trans-Pacific Partnership
