Tuesday, June 30, 2015

'Blind agreement' and closed-door deals: Report slams TPP negotiations...

As a trade deal between Australia and its allies edges closer towards completion, leading critics to warn of an impending "attack [on] internet freedoms," a parliamentary committee has slammed the deal-making process saying it lacks adequate "oversight and scrutiny."

The comments come as Australia engages in closed-door negotiations with 11 other countries over the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a trade agreement that could change the copyright and piracy landscape in Australia and have major ramifications for the way Australians access online content.

A joint-Parliamentary report on the TPP and other trade deals has declaimed that "not is all right with the current process" and that politicians and key stakeholders are being "kept in the dark" on the negotiation process.

The "Blind Agreement" report warns that under the current system, "Parliament is faced with an all-or-nothing choice" on whether or not to approve trade agreements and can only officially review trade laws once they've officially passed.

"This does not provide an adequate level of oversight and scrutiny," the report reads. "Parliament should play a constructive role during negotiations and not merely rubber-stamp agreements that have been negotiated behind closed doors." Full story...

Related posts:
  1. 75% of Canadians have ‘never heard of TPP’
  2. European Parliament TTIP vote cancelled ‘because of huge public pressure’
  3. Why artists are saying no to TTIP ...
  4. Two million petitions delivered to Congress to stop TPP...
  5. TPP, the secret corporate takeover...
  6. No one knows what the TPP is...
  7. Stop calling the TPP a trade agreement: it isn't...
  8. Hundreds of tech companies line up to oppose TPP trade agreement...
  9. TPP, the dirtiest trade deal you've never heard of...

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