WikiLeaks Releases Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) Secret Documents
oday,Thursday, December 3, 10am EST, WikiLeaks releases new secret documents
from the huge Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) which is being
negotiated by the US, EU and 22 other countries that account for 2/3rds
of global GDP. Coinciding with the ongoing climate talks in Paris,
today's publication touches on issues of crucial relevance including the
regulation of energy, industrial development, workers' rights and the
natural environment. WikiLeaks is also publishing expert analyses of the
documents.
The Trade In Services Agreement is the largest trade
treaty of its kind in history. The economies of the 52 countries
involved in the negotiation, which is being led by the United States,
are mostly the supply of services. According to World Bank figures,
services comprise 75% of the EU economy, 80% of the US economy and the
majority of the global economy. Notably excluded in the TiSA
negotiations are the emerging economies and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa).
treaty of its kind in history. The economies of the 52 countries
involved in the negotiation, which is being led by the United States,
are mostly the supply of services. According to World Bank figures,
services comprise 75% of the EU economy, 80% of the US economy and the
majority of the global economy. Notably excluded in the TiSA
negotiations are the emerging economies and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa).
The "Energy Related Services Annex Proposal: Questions
and Answers" document sets out TiSA designs to create an international
market in energy-related services for foreign suppliers. While heads of
state prepare to sign climate accords in Paris, TiSA negotiators are
meeting behind closed doors in Geneva to forge new limits on energy
regulation.
and Answers" document sets out TiSA designs to create an international
market in energy-related services for foreign suppliers. While heads of
state prepare to sign climate accords in Paris, TiSA negotiators are
meeting behind closed doors in Geneva to forge new limits on energy
regulation.
The "Annex on Environmental Services" reveals that
TiSA will aim to ensure that national environmental protections within
TiSA countries will be "harmonized down", promoting the interests of
multinational companies providing water purification, sanitation and
refuse disposal services over worker safety, public health and the
natural environment. Assessing the agreement, Friends of the Earth calls
TiSA "an environmental hazard", pointing out that public services of an
environmentally sensitive nature are in danger of being privatized.
Commenting on the "Annex on Road Freight Transport and Related
Logistical Services", the International Transport Workers Federation
(ITF) calls TiSA a "race to the bottom," observing that the Annex joins
other Annexes published by WikiLeaks to form an overarching trade
liberalization agenda, fragmenting the trucking industry, opening up
sensitive areas of the transport sector to international competition,
and contributing to the ongoing privatization of public services,
undercutting workers' rights, public health and safety, and the ability
of national governments to plan and direct their own industrial and
infrastructural development.
TiSA will aim to ensure that national environmental protections within
TiSA countries will be "harmonized down", promoting the interests of
multinational companies providing water purification, sanitation and
refuse disposal services over worker safety, public health and the
natural environment. Assessing the agreement, Friends of the Earth calls
TiSA "an environmental hazard", pointing out that public services of an
environmentally sensitive nature are in danger of being privatized.
Commenting on the "Annex on Road Freight Transport and Related
Logistical Services", the International Transport Workers Federation
(ITF) calls TiSA a "race to the bottom," observing that the Annex joins
other Annexes published by WikiLeaks to form an overarching trade
liberalization agenda, fragmenting the trucking industry, opening up
sensitive areas of the transport sector to international competition,
and contributing to the ongoing privatization of public services,
undercutting workers' rights, public health and safety, and the ability
of national governments to plan and direct their own industrial and
infrastructural development.
While the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Pact (TTIP) have received attention,
the TiSA is the largest component of the United States' "Big Three," the
triumvirate of strategic neoliberal trade deals being advanced by the
Obama administration. Together, the three treaties form not only a new
legal order hospitable for transnational corporations, but a new
economic "grand enclosure", which excludes China and all other BRICS
countries.
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Pact (TTIP) have received attention,
the TiSA is the largest component of the United States' "Big Three," the
triumvirate of strategic neoliberal trade deals being advanced by the
Obama administration. Together, the three treaties form not only a new
legal order hospitable for transnational corporations, but a new
economic "grand enclosure", which excludes China and all other BRICS
countries.
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Wikileaks. (image: Guardian UK)
