PHM-Exch> Via Campesina: FTA and TPP Kill People! Build Another Asia and System Change against Free Trade Agreements:TLC y TPP matan a la gente!

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: David Legge <D.Legge at latrobe.edu.au>


*From:* Jane Kelsey <j.kelsey at auckland.ac.nz>




FTAs and TPP Kill People!

*Build Another Asia and System Change against Free Trade Agreements*

We, representatives of peasants, workers, consumers, urban and rural poor,
social movements and civil society organizations are gathering in Chiba and
Tokyo, Japan from the 12th to 15th of October 2011. La Via Campesina South
East and East Asia region with FTA Watch (Thailand), Shokkenren (Japan) and
Task Force against Korea-US FTA (Republic of Korea) organized a strategic
meeting to discuss the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP). This is to express our alarm on the implementation and
pursuit of the agreements across Asia. Currently there are dozens of FTAs
between countries and/or regions and they have been threatening the peoples’
livelihood in the region.

At present, the world is still experiencing food, energy, financial and
environmental crises. Corporations and capital who caused these crises are
trying to fill their already-full pockets by pushing FTAs and TPP. Only 1
percent of the world’s population are practicing and reaping the benefits
from free trade. This attempt will exacerbate the current crises and
sacrifice the people, especially the poor.

The FTAs are more liberal than the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks.
FTAs are also used as a way of accelerating free-trade in the aftermath of
the WTO collapse in 2003. The TPP will liberalize goods, industry, services
and investment in the greater Pacific Rim. TPP is mainly an initiative by
the United States with the ambitious goal of liberalizing almost 54 percent
of the world’s economy.

This liberalization will wipe out national budgets for public
spending. The FTAs
and TPP will make it more difficult for people to access essential public
services such as healthcare, education, electricity and water. People’s access
to food, jobs, and productive natural resources in the region will also
diminish with the greater exploitation of them by corporations and big
capitals.

Further liberalization will threaten and violate peoples’ and national
sovereignty. We are very concerned because we have witnessed previous FTAs
that have destroyed peoples’ food sovereignty, especially local price and
markets. FTAs will continue to undermine our national sovereignty
(especially the developing and poor nations) as they will secure
transnational corporations (TNCs) domination. Moreover, FTAs and TPP will
perpetuate neocolonialization because poor and developing countries will
keep supplying energy and raw materials to developed countries.

FTAs and TPP will also exacerbate the financial crisis because they will
further liberalize the financial sector. We need to regulate the financial
sector, not to keep TNCs and big capitals reaping profits off the backs of
people.

Workers’ rights are also in danger. FTAs and TPP will create flexible labor
market and this will alleviate protection. Very low wages, temporary to no
contracts at all, outsourcing practices, no insurance or other protections
are very dangerous situations that have already happened to many workers in
our region.

We do not oppose trade. There are local, national, and even regional trade
alternatives based on justice and fair rules—which ensures that no one human
exploits another. We need trade that respects human rights, upholds food
sovereignty and ensures peoples’ access to essential public services.
In light of threats from FTAs and TPP, we therefore call on our governments
*to completely reject* the attempts to conclude the upcoming agreements and
*to stop the implentation* of the previous FTAs.

Therefore we will continue our works and solidarity within this issue, and
to:

1.   > Make common training, educational materials and analysis on FTAs and
TPP.

2.   > Voice our concerns in the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Bali, Indonesia
and also responding to APEC Summit in Honolulu, US—both on November 2011.

3.   > Create permanent stategic committee to coordinate actions on FTAs and
TPP. Continue the research for alternatives to regional cooperation and work
together to create common platform among organizations in the region.

We know that this will be a long process to derail the FTAs and TPP,
especially in the region. Through hard work, strengthening solidarity
through our activities and actions, we are determined to achieve our goal.
We also call to peoples’ movements and civil society organizations to come
and join us in this important struggle.
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