Mayor Bloomberg has done a lot to curb the use of tobacco around the world. So, he is quite upset about the Obama Administration agreeing to eliminate the safe harbor provision relative to tobacco that has been part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. The safe harbor provision would have prevented the tobacco industry
from interfering with governments’ sovereign right to protect public
health through tobacco control laws. Mr. Bloomberg feels that, at least as regards tobacco the "deal that sells out our national commitment to public health, and
forfeits our sovereign authority over our tobacco laws, does not merit
the support of Mr. Obama; of the Senate, which would have to ratify it;
or of the American people."
Why Mr. Bloomberg is not as concerned about other provisions of the TPP escapes me. Perhaps, it's because he - like members of Congress and we citizens - doesn't know very much about the other provisions, as the treaty and the negotiations surrounding it have been kept secret by Obama and company.
In the words of United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk the TPP “will create binding policies on future Congresses in
numerous areas,” including “those related to labor, patent and
copyright, land use, food, agriculture and product standards, natural
resources, the environment, professional licensing, state-owned
enterprises and government procurement policies, as well as financial,
healthcare, energy, telecommunications and other service sector
regulations.”
Why won't Obama reveal the details of this treaty?
No comments:
Post a Comment