Activists sound alarm over trade deal

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION

 

 

Groups say agreement will harm Thai agriculture and health, warn decision should be left to incoming elected government.
 

ACTIVISTS HAVE warned that Thailand will suffer seriously from a medical and agricultural monopoly of multinational corporations if the government signs an 11-country free trade agreement.

 

FTA Watch in Bangkok, a regional campaign network, said yesterday at a seminar that only capitalists will benefit from the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). 

 

The group said there are many controversial trade regulations, especially in the protection of intellectual property and investments, which will eventually harm the Thai agricultural sector and healthcare systems. 

 

At a press conference after the seminar, FTA Watch announced its objection to the junta’s effort to sign the new free trade agreement (FTA) without rigorously analysing the impact on the country and said it should allow an elected democratic government to consider the major issue.

 

The CPTPP, which is also known as TPP11, is a signed FTA between 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific Region, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Only Mexico has ratified the FTA.

 

Mongkol Duangkaew, a representative from the Alternative Agriculture Network, said food security and the future of Thai farmers would be in danger if Thailand signs the deal. He said controversial regulations on agriculture would be enforced automatically.

 

“Under the enforcement of UPOV [International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants] Convention 1991, the transnational big food companies will rule over our agricultural sector and will generate even larger profit by taking advantage of Thailand’s rich biodiversity,” Mongkol said. “Moreover, the giant agricultural corporations can get bigger benefits from strict intellectual property protection over seeds and plant varieties, while GMO plants will be automatically introduced to Thailand for commercial farming by this FTA.”

Chalermsak Kittitrakul, from the Aids Access Foundation, cautioned that CPTPP would also jeopardise Thailand’s health care system and access to quality medicine. The intellectual property protection regulations of CPTPP grant pharmaceutical companies tighter control over their medicine patents, which allows market monopolisation and increased medicine prices, Chalermsak said. 

 

“The regulations of CPTPP not only extend the expiry date of intellectual property, but also make the pharmaceutical companies register a new drug patent "easier", contributing to the occurrence of an evergreen patent, which keeps the poor from access to necessary medicine,” Chalermsak said.

 

“It will also be impossible to sustain our good healthcare system, as Thailand can no longer bargain for better prices on large-scale medicine procurement once it becomes a CPTPP member.”

 

On June 1, the Commerce Ministry announced its goal to sign the CPTPP next year and pointed out many benefits Thailand will have from being a member, such as access to many new markets within the members of the agreement.

 

However, FTA Watch vice president Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul said the Commerce Ministry’s claims were a half-truth and failed to mention the adverse impacts.

 

“We have already faced problems from the negative impacts of JTEPA [Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement], as this FTA allows Japan to dump its electronic waste in Thailand,” Kannikar said.

 

“This FTA was signed by the previous military government without the proper consideration of every aspect and despite the protest and warning of the electronic waste import allowance in the FTA by the Public Health Ministry and civil society organisations. We urge the junta not to repeat this mistake.”

 

She said that the regulation for making a transnational agreement under the 2017 Constitution was too weak to ensure the proper consideration and assessment of the overall impacts. She urged that the decision should lie with the democratic government after the election.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30347600

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-13

2 hours ago, webfact said:

especially in the protection of intellectual property

really ? these folks have it backwards, thailand Protecting it's own intellectual property rather than pillaging others' ? theirs must be a strange world

2 hours ago, YetAnother said:

Thailand Protecting it's own intellectual property

Let's just call it 'property.' If it is Thai, the word 'intellectual' may be misleading.

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

really ? these folks have it backwards, thailand Protecting it's own intellectual property rather than pillaging others' ? theirs must be a strange world

Have to agree, that article almost every point made is backwards, if Thailand can't compete on an even basis with the countries mentioned then something is drastically wrong.

 

Time for Thailand to grow a pair, they want to compete on the world stage but according to that article they really don't at least not fairly 

in other words they want to be able to continue to steal or illegally use other peoples achievements, copy all other products etc and have to pay nothing to the people that created them. Trying to buy genuine articles etc in Thailand is hard, even the govt do not use genuine software etc on their computers, same with many businesses etc, computer stores load pirate programs in their new computers, while police do sometimes seize illegal clothing etc it is not really enforced, paying less is too important to many thais, the trade deal will make it harder for the corrupt practices many here do which is all this is about, these people want to continue to steal from others

Edited June 13, 20188 yr by seajae

8 hours ago, webfact said:

food security and the future of Thai farmers would be in danger if Thailand signs the deal

The immediate past and present for the Thai farmers has been a security failure. They've been showered with above-market crop prices, production subsidies, debt relief, soft loans, refinancing, temporary government-related jobs, etc. and no less able to have a sustainable livelihood. Something different needs to be tried.

And frankly, protecting the Thai farming industry may do more harm than good when it should be substantially redirected into other industries where production and revenues are more efficient and predictable. The TPP will force that change.

TPP-Lite.  It suffers all the same warts as the TPP.  And the 'activists' are correct in their assumption that "Thailand will suffer seriously from a medical and agricultural monopoly of multinational corporations".  These 'free-trade' agreements have little to do with free trade and everything to do with corporate predation.

Toss it on the dust bin of history with the other trash in Thailand and move along.

As an Aussie, I agree completely, the TPP in whatever form it is paraded is a bloody disaster for us and I suspect Thailand as well, the ability for Corporations to take Government's to an international tribunal for lost business profits due to legislation is just so wrong. 

The big winners are Big Pharma from the US and the disgusting GMO peddling agricultural sector, no winners for Thailand or Australia, Big Business running the world, Grrrr 

5 hours ago, rosst said:

As an Aussie, I agree completely, the TPP in whatever form it is paraded is a bloody disaster for us and I suspect Thailand as well, the ability for Corporations to take Government's to an international tribunal for lost business profits due to legislation is just so wrong. 

The big winners are Big Pharma from the US and the disgusting GMO peddling agricultural sector, no winners for Thailand or Australia, Big Business running the world, Grrrr 

One the whole I agree, but only somewhat. First off the USA is not part of the TPP. So I am not sure

what effect American Big pharma will play in. What I am certain of is these trade agreements provide

benefits for big business. Whether it is Thai- Australian- Japanese makes no difference. Big business

wins the general population gets scraps. I do believe with a trade agreement of equal living standards

there can be a benefit. NAFTA has been a disaster in North America and the public has been totally

snowed. The original agreement was just between the US and Canada. This was fare and equitable and

with a few exceptions (lumber) was fare and worked well for both sides. Then Mexico joined. The multinational

companies now had Canada natural resources and cheap labour in Mexico. The next step was to shutter

manufacturing in Canada and move it to Mexico. Manufacturing in Canada has been devastated. Step two

was to stop opening plants in the US and open them in Mexico. This went on for many years and for the

most part under the radar. Of course, the third step was either closing US plants when they needed upgrading

or just shuttering them and moving to Mexico. And now you have the rise of populism and Donald Trump

in power. Of course, he is stuck on dumb. Canada is not Americas manufacturing problem. $5 an hour wages

no benefits, and no environmental enforcement means you cant compete. Mexico's participation was sold

as the need to allow the multinationals a manufacturing hub to build products for Mexico-Central America, and South America. After 30 years 98% of the goods are sold in Canada and the USA. As for Thailand, they should be cautious. They do have cheap labour relative to most TPP countries but this could open up. Vietnam has much cheaper manufacturing and is less corrupt. Thailand has better infrastructure for now. When other low cost countries join Thailand and manufacturing in developed countries will leave. The big multinational companies will make off like bandits. 

14 hours ago, rosst said:

the ability for Corporations to take Government's to an international tribunal for lost business profits due to legislation is just so wrong. 

The alternative without a free trade agreement is that foreign participating companies will be subjected to a politicalized and corrupt Thai judicial system that currently has a meaningful conflict of interest with the junta-led government that rules by absolute power and ability to replace judges without any accountability.

That's not to say that foreign companies will cease investments in Thailand without a FTA. But they will otherwise require greater concessions from the Thai government to minimize the potential financial risks associated with arbitrary and nationalistic government actions through tailored Thai legislation. Case in point is the EEC development zone that does not operate under a FTA but does operate under special NLA legislation endorsed in the Royal Gazette.