Many of us would argue that including the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in TPP / TTIP, as a holdover from NAFTA and other earlier “free” trade deals, is the most anti-democratic feature of these agreements that allows corporations to by-pass our national court system.

Now, however, the TPP / TTIP each add, for the first time, a new kind of chapter on Regulatory Coherence (TPP) or Regulatory Cooperation (TTIP). The intent is to establish a formal national (TPP) or trans-national (TTIP) bureaucracy and process to systematically year after year ensure our laws and rules are “harmonized” to the trade agreement provisions. Furthermore, new laws and regulations would need to advance trade based on simple economic cost-benefit analysis. These bureaucracies will only increase corporate influence over rule-making in the public interest and for the common good, especially at the state level, decrease transparency in regulatory decisions, and have a chilling effect on new laws and rules. 

What about the frightening fact that new laws passed by our elected representatives and regulatory agencies to protect public health and the environment would systematically be overruled by faceless bureaucrats to ensure transnational corporate profit, should TPP / TTIP /TiSA be passed by Congress?

This was briefly discussed by some of our earlier speakers, but on this Sunday’s call Sharon Anglin Treat, Co-Chair for the Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission (CTPC) will discuss this in much more detail. . Ms. Treat will also speak on dangers of the imminent TPP.

Sharon Treat is a lawyer and public policy consultant, and a member of an Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee of the U.S. Trade Representative. She is a consultant on trade policy for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, and travels extensively at home and abroad to present on the expected impacts of the TPP and TTIP and Regulatory Cooperation.

Nancy Price, Alliance for Democracy, will update us on TPP Free Zones;

Andrea Miller, Executive Director, People Demanding Action, will inform on the PDA Letter-Drops;

Liz Warren, Communications Director, People Demanding Action, will talk about the Train the Trainers Modules coming up early this week; 

Adam Weissman, TradeJustice New York Metro, will fill us in on the coming Feb 4th and President's Day actions and more; 

Emilianne Slaydon, TPP Media March, will give us an update on the coming TPP Tuesday Twitter Storm; and

Our Peruvian Friends will give us an update on the TPP protest actions there.  We also hope to hear from you about your upcoming TPP is Betrayal events and more!

Please join us,

Harriet Heywood