http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140428/10593427051/meet-tisa-another-major-treaty-negotiated-secret-alongside-tpp-ttip.shtml
> Meet TISA: Another Major Treaty Negotiated In Secret Alongside TPP And TTIP > > from the really-good-friends dept > > This Wednesday evening there is to be a "Public Information Session and > Discussion" (pdf) about TISA: the Trade in Services Agreement. If, like me, > you've never heard of this, you might think it's a new initiative. But it > turns out that it's been under way for more than a year: the previous USTR, > Ron Kirk, informed Congress about it back in January 2013 (pdf). Aside from > the occasional laconic press release from the USTR, a page put together by > the Australian government, and a rather poorly-publicized consultation by the > European Commission last year, there has been almost no public information > about this agreement. A cynic might even think they were trying to keep it > quiet. > > Perhaps the best introduction to TISA comes from the Public Services > International (PSI) organization, a global trade union federation > representing 20 million people working in public services in 150 countries. > Last year, it released a naturally skeptical brief on the proposed agreement > (pdf): > > At the beginning of 2012, about 20 WTO members (the EU counted as one) > calling themselves "The Really Good Friends of Services" (RGF) launched > secret unofficial talks towards drafting a treaty that would further > liberalize trade and investment in services, and expand "regulatory > disciplines" on all services sectors, including many public services. The > "disciplines," or treaty rules, would provide all foreign providers access to > domestic markets at "no less favorable" conditions as domestic suppliers and > would restrict governments' ability to regulate, purchase and provide > services. This would essentially change the regulation of many public and > privatized or commercial services from serving the public interest to serving > the profit interests of private, foreign corporations. > The Australian government's TISA page fills in some details: > The TiSA negotiations will cover all services sectors. In addition to > improved market access commitments, the negotiations also provide an > opportunity to develop new disciplines (or trade rules) in areas where there > has been significant developments since the WTO Uruguay Round negotiations. > There negotiations will cover financial services; ICT services (including > telecommunications and e-commerce); professional services; maritime transport > services; air transport services, competitive delivery services; energy > services; temporary entry of business persons; government procurement; and > new rules on domestic regulation to ensure regulatory settings do not operate > as a barrier to trade in services. > If that sounds familiar, it's because very similar language is used to > describe TAFTA/TTIP, which aims to liberalize trade and investment, to > provide foreign investors with access to domestic markets on the same terms > as local suppliers, to limit a government's ability to regulate there by > removing "non-tariff barriers" -- described above as "regulatory settings" -- > and to use corporate sovereignty provisions to enforce investors' rights. > Those similarities suggest TISA is part of a larger plan that includes not > just TAFTA/TTIP, but TPP too, and which aims to cement the dominance of the > US and EU in world trade against a background of Asia's growing power. > Indeed, it's striking how membership of TISA coincides almost exactly with > that of TTIP added to TPP: > > The 23 TiSA parties currently comprise: Australia, Canada, Chile, Chinese > Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, European Union (representing its 28 Member > States), Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, New > Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Republic of Korea, > Switzerland,, Turkey and the United States. > Once more, the rising economies of the BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, > India, China, South Africa -- are all absent, and the clear intent, as with > TTIP and TPP, is to impose the West's terms on them. That's explicitly > recognized by one of the chief proponents of TISA, the European Services > Forum: > the possible future agreement would for the time being fall short of the > participation of some of the leading emerging economies, notably Brazil, > China, India and the ASEAN countries. It is not desirable that all those > countries would reap the benefits of the possible future agreement without in > turn having to contribute to it and to be bound by its rules. > The Australian government's page reveals that there have already been five > rounds of negotiations -- all held behind closed doors, of course, just as > with TTIP and TPP. The Public Information Session taking place in Geneva this > week seems to mark the start of a new phase in those negotiations, at least > allowing some token transparency. Perhaps this has been provoked by the > growing public anger over the secrecy surrounding TPP and TAFTA/TTIP, and > fears that the longer TISA was kept out of the limelight, the worse the > reaction would be when people found out about it. > It seems appropriate, then, that the unexpected unveiling of this new global > agreement should be greeted not only by an updated and more in-depth critique > from the PSI -- "TISA versus Public Services" -- but also the first anti-TISA > day of protest. Somehow, I don't think it will be the last. > > Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+ -- Kim Holburn IT Network & Security Consultant T: +61 2 61402408 M: +61 404072753 mailto:k...@holburn.net aim://kimholburn skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request _______________________________________________ Link mailing list Link@mailman.anu.edu.au http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
