UNDER normal circumstances, we do not hesitate to push for free-trade relations with other countries for the simple reason that free trade yields superior results to participants than restricted trade. The freer the exchange of commodities and services between countries, the faster the growth of the productive sectors of the countries involved, the more employment opportunities created for their labor forces, and the faster the improvement of the standards of living of their populations.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), signed by 12 countries on October 5 after some five years of negotiations, is a treaty that would lower trade barriers, establish a common framework for intellectual property, enforce standards for labor law and environmental law, and establish an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
The 12 signatory countries are Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the United States and Vietnam. The Philippines is one of several countries that have signified their intention to join, the others being Taiwan, Thailand, Lao PDR and Indonesia. Further down the line, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India would want to join in the future
Why are we hesitating to push for membership in the TPPA? Because of the implications of certain provisions of the TPPA on the sovereignty of our country and its freedom to pursue policies it deems in the country’s interest. For a beginning, the ISDS mechanism of the TPPA gives a foreign investor the right to sue the government of the country, where it is operating when it deems its rights, have been violated. Our Constitution stipulates that our government cannot be sued without its consent.
Other issues involve intellectual property rights that give, for instance, power to pharmaceutical producers to sue the government for patent infringement, for failure to prolong copyright protection, etc. These can result in the curtailment of circulation and the unreasonable increase in the price of medicines vital to the health of the people.
The TPPA is strong in corporate protection and weak in social security. But it is not anywhere in its final form. Many provisions of the agreement are still being debated in several of the concurring governments.
For us in the Philippines, we will need to carefully weigh the benefits-costs of participation in the TPPA. For all practical purposes, we already have free- trade relations with the US and with respect to Japan, we are, in fact, seeking to amend our free-trade agreement in order to increase access for our export products. We are also getting ready for active participation in the emerging integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In other words, we do not need to plunge headlong into TPPA.
At this point, we will benefit from the opinions of our distinguished citizens, including legal scholars, justices, academics (not the starstruck free marketers whose opinions we already know) on how to navigate around hazardous shoals of international treaties. We want to be sure that we do not sell ourselves short as we try to find the best deal for our country.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano