TPP Negotiation Secrecy Makes Deal's Cost–Benefit Analysis Impossible - NGO

NGO told Sputnik that the secrecy of the negotiations leading to TPP free trade agreement does not allow for the civil society of participating countries to estimate the possible costs and benefits of the deal.

MONTEVIDEO (Sputnik) — The secrecy of the negotiations leading to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement does not allow for the civil society of participating countries to estimate the possible costs and benefits of the deal, the executive director of the Chilean Derechos Digitales NGO told Sputnik on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the United States and eleven other countries of the Pacific-Rim region reached an agreement on the wording and subject matter of the TPP deal which is intended to cover about 40 percent of the global economy following nine days of the final stage of negotiations.

"The terms of the TPP is a secret not only to the public, but also for the national congresses of the countries involved, so it is very difficult to know what are the benefits and what are the costs that might eventually incur the countries signing this agreement," Claudio Ruiz, whose organization protects human rights online, said.

He added that the secrecy of talks on all-encompassing trade deals does not correspond to modern democratic norms.

"At this stage of the game, the democracies of our region need more transparency and more participation, not the opacity and secrecy in which this treaty was negotiated," Ruiz pointed out.

The unusual secrecy that surrounded TPP negotiations, and the uncertain implications of the deal for workers’ rights, sovereignty, employment, copyright and the environment have drawn heavy criticism from many members of government, as well as labour unions and watchdogs.

Besides Chile, the deal includes the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the director of US-based International Campaigns, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch claims that TPP is likely to face stiff opposition in the bicameral US legislature over certain conditions seen to be harming the public interest.

The TPP deal is expected to be voted on in the US Congress early in 2016.

"If there really is a completely final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, its fate in the US Congress is highly uncertain given the narrow margin by which trade authority passed this summer, the concessions made to get a deal, and growing congressional and public concerns about the TPP’s threats to jobs, wages, safe food and affordable medicines and more," Melinda St. Louis emphasized.

According to the watchdog head, nation-wide discontent with the deal is only a prelude to a major fight over TPP in the US Congress in the coming months.

"The intense national battle over trade authority was just a preview of the massive opposition the TPP will face given that Democratic and Republican members of Congress and the public soon will be able to see the specific TPP terms that threaten their interests," she added.

The free trade agreement eliminates about 18,000 taxes previously imposed by the Asia-Pacific nations on US goods, including machinery, automobile and agriculture products, according to the White House.