TPP Is Not Going To protect Our Environment

Not a big surprise, but if you follow the news, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is about to change the way business is made. And that takes some legal writ, as most countries are part of other obligations, such as the United Nations. Japan certainly is. But TPP does not care about such deals and treaties. The only ones they could agree on seems to be the Convention on Illegal Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which generally requires countries to ban trade in specific endangered species.

It also seems TPP may suggest that the Environment Chapter will include obligations similar to those contained in the Montreal Protocol on protection of the ozone layer, and the Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) -- without specifically subjecting these MEAs to the TPP dispute settlement mechanism.

As I noted back in January, 2014, when Wikileaks first exposed the TPP Environmental Chapter:

...there are a lot of other international treaties that are not covered, including for climate change and biological diversity (with more rules on issues like biopiracy, like the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety) that TPP should cover, if it were to be acceptable.

http://japanfocus.org/-martin_j_-frid/4066/article.html

Biological diversity is another area of contention due to the United States failure to ratify the UN Convention on Biological Diversity – due in turn to pressure from its biotech industry, which saw the Convention as a direct threat to the introduction of patented genetically modified organisms around the world. As for conservation, which includes a reference to the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the international agreement among governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and precious plants does not threaten their survival, Japan and all other negotiating parties remain opposed to the US proposals in the TPP.

Comments

Anonymous said…
While I can see some tiny benefits in the TPP the bad points massively outweigh any positive aspects and really fear that this will hand far too much power to large corporations and have a negative impact on farming in Japan. Being an organic farmer in Japan is hard enough as it is without needing any further difficulties

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