Thursday, July 14, 2016



Good news on the TPPA

Its official: both US presidential candidates now oppose the TPPA:

Hillary Clinton delivered a shot across the bows to the Trans-Pacific Partnership as her bid for the US presidency was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, a vocal opponent of the controversial trade agreement.

[...]

But at a rally held in New Hampshire yesterday to mark Sanders' endorsement, Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, went beyond the bounds of the party's official platform.

"We're going to say no to a tax on working families and no to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices including the Trans-Pacific Partnership," she said to a raucous crowd, which included many Sanders supporters.


Its not dead yet - there are still fantasies that the US Congress will ratify it in the "lame duck" session, where they can't be held accountable for their decision - but in the likely scenario that that doesn't happen, the TPPA will be over.

Meanwhile, legislation to implement the TPPA in New Zealand is currently before select committee, but is due back in November. Hopefully the government won't move too quickly on it. Otherwise we could be left in the situation of extending our copyright term and gutting Pharmac for nothing.