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This agreement if signed will affect virtually every New Zealander for the rest of this century. It basically takes away our sovereignty and we become pawns in a globalist corporate agenda. What are its affects? The TPPA would be an agreement that guarantees special rights to foreign investors. If these negotiations succeed they will create a mega-treaty across 9 countries that will put a straight jacket around what policies and laws [NZ] governments can adopt for the next century \u2013 think no GM labelling, overriding our Laws on foreign investment, shackling PHARMAC, increasing price of medicines, no regulating info on cigarette packs,\xa0 and not regulating dodgy finance firms, less NZ content on TV, private prisons, privatising education, land acquisitions, mining, fishing, high rise hotels at NZ beaches? \u2026 As the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations have been completed in Auckland, an alliance of civil society groups in participating countries have announced a \u201crelease the text\u201d campaign ahead of the next round of talks in February 2011 in Chile. The co-ordinated campaign aims to mobilise central and local government lawmakers, civil society organisations and ordinary citizens to demand an end to the shroud of secrecy around the negotiations. \u201cThe negotiators themselves say this is not an ordinary free trade agreement. It would reach deep behind the border into the realm of domestic policy and regulation, super-imposing enforceable constraints over decisions for which our elected parliaments and local councils are currently responsible.\u201d If this TPPA really is so good for us, why are they scared to release the draft text and open it to scrutiny?There are now draft texts on the table on financial services and investment, and possibly more. Negotiators have flatly refused to release them at any stage in the negotiations, claiming there is no precedent in a free trade negotiation. It is nonsense to claim that releasing draft texts is unprecedented. All nine countries are Members of the WTO, which now routinely posts country position papers and draft texts in progress on its website. The New Zealand government itself recognised in its paper on IP, leaked earlier in the negotiations, that \u201cgroups are acutely aware of what they see as \u2018secret\u2019 negotiations to strengthen IP rights under FTAs and other international instruments.\u201d After repeated leaks of the draft texts, the parties to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations eventually released them for public scrutiny. \u201cWe are repeatedly told this is a 21st century agreement; yet the secrecy that surrounds it is redolent of the Star Chamber. We would never tolerate such a blatant rejection of transparency and accountability in our domestic legislation, so why here?\u201d \u201cIf this TPPA really is so good for us, why are they scared to release the draft text and open it to scrutiny?\u201d, asked Professor Kelsey. \u201cThe challenge then is for Parliament to convene an inquiry before the process has reached the stage where irreversible commitments have been made where we can test out the arguments for and against a TPPA and New Zealanders, including MPs, can know what we are signing up to for the next century\u201d. http://tppwatch.org http://www.nznotforsale.org And digest site for researchers http://www.tppdigest.org