‘Behind the seemingly benign term “certification” hides an extraordinary power that the US is expected to assert if the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is concluded’.
‘Effectively, the US claims the right to decide what a country’s obligations are under a trade and investment agreement and refuses to bring the agreement into force in relation to that country until it has changed its laws, regulations and administrative processes to fit the US interpretation’, Professor Kelsey explained.
Statements from members of US Congress and the US Trade Representative (USTR) suggest prime targets for New Zealand would be our copyright and patent laws, the foreign investment vetting regime, the procedures by which Pharmac operates, and Fonterra’s ‘anti-competitive monopoly’.
‘The other eleven governments are aware of the certification process and many are concerned. But no one has told the public how the US can effectively redraft our laws.’
There's more details on the process here, and it looks appalling. And in Peru's case, the US used certification of a bilateral free trade agreement to redraft Peruvian laws to suit American interests.
Its bad enough when treaties are made in secret without any public input, but this is a step beyond that into pure economic colonialism. If the US wants to use the TPPA to do this we should tell them to go fuck themselves. Free trade is not worth our sovereignty, or our democracy.