PHM-Exch> Update on the Trans Pacific Partnership and public health

[Claudio Schuftan]

*Update on the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations and Public Health*****

*Deborah Gleeson, PHM Oz, 7 August 2013*****

Round 18 of the TPP negotiations, was held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on
15-25 July 2013.****
*Status of the negotiations*

At this negotiating round there was a strong sense that the TPP countries
are attempting to conclude as many areas of the text as possible before the
self-imposed deadline of October 2013. But it was also clear that some
controversial areas of the text, including particularly the intellectual
property, state-owned enterprises and environment chapters, will not be
concluded by then. Some other chapters where there are major unresolved
areas include labour, investment and government procurement. There is
likely to be some technical work remaining after October, and some issues
that cannot be resolved at the technical level will be pushed up to the
political level for resolution.****

Japan joined the negotiations for the last two days of the round. At this
stage it is unclear what impact Japan’s entry will have on the timelines
for completion. Japan may not be so willing to accept text that has already
been agreed by the other Parties.****

The next round of negotiations is coming up very soon on 22-30 August in
Brunei. The next round may be the last formal round, and much of the
remaining technical work may be completed via “inter-sessional” meetings or
other means before or after the next round.****

*Update on key public health issues of concern*****

*Access to medicines*

The extreme US proposals on intellectual property and pharmaceuticals that
would severely constrain access to medicines continue to be opposed by all
of the other TPP Parties. According to a report by Gordon Campbell (
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1307/S00122/gordon-campbell-on-the-tpps-risk-to-national-sovereignty.htm),
World Trade Online reported on 17 July 2013 that six countries, including
Australia, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore had tabled a
principles or discussion paper at Round 17 of the negotiations that
presented an alternative to the US proposal. While this paper is likely to
be far more moderate than the US proposal, of some concern is that Vietnam
is not involved. Vietnam is the most vulnerable party in terms of access to
medicines.

The healthcare annex to the transparency chapter, which contains provisions
directed at pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement schemes, specifically
targets national reimbursement schemes such as Australia’s PBS and New
Zealand’s PHARMAC but could also have implications for other countries that
have national formularies and/or price controls of some description. All
countries appear to remain opposed to the draft text tabled by the US. It
is concerning to public health advocates that the US has not tabled a more
acceptable proposal, as it seems likely that the annex will become a
political issue towards the end of the negotiations, where trade-offs
between different sectors are more likely.****

*Alcohol health warnings*****

It recently came to light that a special annex on the labeling of wine and
spirits is being discussed for the TPP. The purpose of this annex seems to
be to simplify labeling requirements for exporters. However, it seems
likely, on the basis of previous agreements of this type, that the annex
may restrict where governments can require information to be placed on the
labels of alcoholic beverages. This may mean that governments are not able
to mandate the placement of health warnings in prominent positions, e.g. on
the main front label on alcohol bottles. See
https://theconversation.com/trans-pacific-partnership-rules-could-block-alcohol-warnings-16279for
further information.
****

*Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)*****

The draft investment chapter of the TPP includes an investor-state dispute
settlement provision that provides an avenue for foreign corporations to
challenge, in international tribunals, the policies and laws of governments
where those policies and laws are perceived to affect the value of their
investments. The Australian Government remains opposed to an ISDS clause
applying to Australia.****

*Tobacco control*****

The United States has still not tabled the tobacco proposal it foreshadowed
in 2012. The proposal is problematic from a public health perspective
because it attempts to strike a balance between the goals of tobacco
exporters and public health goals. However, it is concerning that no text
has yet been tabled. Some tobacco control organisations are arguing for
tobacco to be completely excluded from the TPP.****

*Food and nutrition*

Many parts of the TPP may have an impact on food and nutrition. It is not
clear that these risks are receiving any consideration in the negotiations.*
***

*Health services*****

A chapter on State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) may have implications for
health services. It is not clear at this stage whether the SOE chapter
would apply to sub-national as well as national SOEs or whether all health
services would be excluded.****

More background on the PHM Oz
website<http://phmoz.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Trans_Pacific_Partnership_Agreement:_Implications_for_public_health_regulation_and_access_to_medicines>
.
-- ****

Deborah Gleeson****

School of Public Health and Human Biosciences
La Trobe University VIC 3086

Watch this 2 minute video by
MSF<http://www.msfaccess.org/content/trans-pacific-partnership-threat-affordable-medicines-millions>to
find out how harmful the TPP could be for access to medicines
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20130809/680f03fa/attachment.html>