[x-pubpol] Countries Sign The TPP... Whatever Happened To The 'Debate' We Were Promised Before Signing?

[Joly MacFie]

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https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160203/15151133510/countries-sign-tpp-whatever-happened-to-debate-we-were-promised-before-signing.shtml
>

About an hour ago, representatives from 12 different nations officially
signed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TTP) agreement in Auckland, New
Zealand. The date, February 4th (New Zealand time) is noteworthy, because
it's 90 days after the official text was released. There was a 90 day clock
that was required between releasing the text and before the US could
actually sign onto the agreement. The stated purpose of this 90 day clock
was in order to allow "debate" about the agreement. Remember, the entire
agreement was negotiated in secret, with US officials treating the text of
the document as if it were a national security secret (unless you were an
industry lobbyist, of course). So as a nod to pretend "transparency" there
was a promise that nothing would be signed for 90 days after the text was
actually released.

So... uh... what happened to that "debate"? It didn't happen at all. The
TPP was barely mentioned at all by the administration in the last 90 days.
Even during the State of the Union, Obama breezed past the TPP with a quick
comment, even though it's supposedly a defining part of his "legacy." But
there's been no debate. Because there was never any intent for an actual
debate. The 90 day clock was just something that was put into the process
so that the USTR and the White House could pretendthat there was more
"transparency" and that they wouldn't sign the agreement until after it had
been looked at and understood by the public.

Of course, the signing is a totally meaningless bit of theater. The real
fight is over ratification. The various countries need to ratify the TPP
for the agreement to go into effect. Technically, the TPP will enter into
force 60 days after all signers ratify it... or, if that doesn't happen,
within two years if at least six of the 12 participant countries ratify it
and those six countries account for 85% of the combined gross domestic
product of the 12 countries. Got that? In short, this means that if the US
doesn't ratify it, the TPP is effectively dead. The US needs a majority of
both houses of Congress to approve it, similar to a typical bill. And
that's no sure thing right now. Unfortunately, that's mainly because a
group of our elected officials are upset that the TPP doesn't go far enough
in helping big businesses block competition, but it's still worth following.

[snip]






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