The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released the full text of the ubiquitous Trans Pacific Trade Partnership deal, which the public has been rallying against for months now.
Previously, Wikileaks released ‘leaked’ documents, including chapters on intellectual property rights (but not the full text) of a document that would affect everything from our civil liberties to biotech’s ability to legally patent your genes.
This document has been voted on in our government without the full text even being released to the public – until now – and take note – it wasn’t released by the US government, either. It would affect your Internet privacy, your ability to choose whether or not to eat GM food, and could even force multiple countries’ citizens to lose their rights for free speech or a fair trial for commodities traded between corporations.
Even the leaked chapters proved that lobbyists were going forward guns-blazing to try to pass this abhorrent piece of legislation. Specifically:
- The public would be completely locked out of international trade deals, no matter how the deals might affect them personally.
- Judges would be able to hold back certain technological advances which would help society by invoking faulty language in the US copyright law, while giving biotech companies free-reign to plant ‘proprietary’ seeds all over the world, without people even knowing where they were planted.
- Whistleblowers in multiple industries would have an even more difficult time coming forward, as they would not be protected as well under new TPP laws.
For the first time, the ‘secret’ text which has been negotiated behind lock and key is available.
You can read the full text of the TPP here: