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TPP

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP or TPP for short) is a trade and investment agreement that was signed on 7 March 2018 between 11 Pacific Rim countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The pact went into force on 30 December 2018 among the members who have ratified it. The US withdrew from it in January 2017.

The investment chapter includes investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions. Civil society groups have blasted the mechanism, as it gives a foreign investor or company disproportionate powers vis-à-vis governments or domestic companies. Foreign investors can resort to a parallel system of justice specifically made for them to challenge public health, the environment and other public-interest ‘safeguards’, and bypass national justice courts.

Photo: Blink O’Fanaye / CC BY-NC 2.0

(March 2020)

Lametti on CETA: ’We’ll get this deal to work’
Embassy | 21-Jan-2016
CETA, China, softwood lumber among government’s top trade priorities for 2016. Canada’s government is willing to address ISDS concerns.
Canada , China , CPTPP , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Global economy moved one step forward, one step back in 2015
Market Watch | 14-Jan-2016
The problem of TPP is with the “investment” chapter, which severely constrains environmental, health, and safety regulation, and even financial regulations with significant macroeconomic impacts.
climate , CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Le retour du commerce administré menace le libre-échange
Les Echos | 14-Jan-2016
L’accord sur le climat ou la création d’une nouvelle banque de développement par les BRICS l’an dernier vont influer sur 2016. Mais le vrai enjeu, moins médiatique, ce sont les accords commerciaux restrictifs qui s’annoncent.
climate , CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Bauxite mining moratorium could land Malaysia in trouble under TPP, says law professor
The Malaysian Insider | 11-Jan-2016
The Malaysian government could be sued by foreign corporations if it intervened in their business activities under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Malaysia , mining
Will the TPP set back this campaign to stop a proposed coal mine on Montana tribal land?
Yes | 6-Jan-2016
The TPP makes the rights of companies sacrosanct, and that includes the right to mine. But what about the rights of people who live in the way of proposed mining sites?
CPTPP , energy , investor-state disputes | ISDS , land , US
Análisis desde Perú: Con el Acuerdo Transpacífico perdemos todos
Rebelión | 23-Dec-2015
El Acuerdo Transpacífico, negociado de forma ultrasecreta, blindará a los grandes inversionistas extranjeros y a los monopolios de la salud en Perú.
CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS , medicines , Peru
Las 7 verdades espantosas del Acuerdo de Asociación Transpacífico
RT | 23-Dec-2015
El TPP da a más de 9.000 empresas extranjeras el derecho de violar leyes que protegen el medioambiente y evitar los tribunales.
CPTPP , environment , investor-state disputes | ISDS , labour | workers’ rights , medicines
TWN: Common claims about TPPA investment chapter, ISDS – a rebuttal
Aliran | 22-Dec-2015
Claims of the much-touted supposed ‘benefits’ of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism are not really what they seem.
CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Malaysia
Canadian companies behaving badly
Now | 11-Dec-2015
Mining sins in poor countries are likely to get worse under Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Canada , CPTPP , environment , investor-state disputes | ISDS , mining
Pakatan Harapan MPs seek AG’s advice on constitutionality of TPPA agreement
The Malaysian Insider | 4-Dec-2015
Four lawmakers today wrote a letter to the Attorney-General seeking clarification whether the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism under the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is in line with the spirit of the Federal Constitution.
CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Malaysia