Archive - Sep 2014

The United States and its close ‘allies' in industrialised countries, appear to be bent on continuing their campaign to paralyse all negotiations and talks at the WTO - on the other parts of the Bali package, a post-Bali work programme, and the Doha Round - by refusing ‘to work' on other issues, until the US-EU cherished protocol on the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is agreed to and delivered. In this SUNS - South North Development Monitor article By Chakravarthi Raghavan analyses latest state of play in WTO negotiations and US & allies' negotiation strategies.

Following a hearing on TTIP in the Luxemburgish Parliament, CESI President Romain Wolff sees TTIP as a distraction to another important trade agreement, the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). Here, Mr Wolff warns of a threat to public services by the back door.

On the occasion of Global Trade Summit convened by PSI and it's affiliates in Washington, D.C., on 15-17 September 2014, PSI and Our World is not For Sale (OWINFS) launched a new Special Report by Ellen Gould entitled "The Really Good Friends of Transnational Corporations Agreement" on the first day of the Global Summit. The report was launched with the objective to overcome the secrecy and complexity surrounding the negotiations on trade in services agreement (TISA) and bring it into the public sphere for a democratic debate.

A new report TISA versus Public Services by Public Services International (PSI) warns that governments are planning to take the world on a liberalisation spree on a scale never seen before. According to the report, this massive trade deal will put public healthcare, broadcasting, water, transport and other services at risk. The proposed deal could make it impossible for future governments to restore public services to public control, even in cases where private service delivery has failed. It would also restrict a government’s ability to regulate key sectors including financial, energy, telecommunications and cross-border data flows.

At Public Services International (PSI) Global Trade Summit 2014, in Washington, D.C., union leaders from all over the world called for public scrutiny of new wave of global trade agreements, which are now being discussed behind closed doors.