[open-government] Join Sunlight in Supporting Trade Transparency

Fri Nov 22 15:34:36 UTC 2013

Thanks to everyone who joined!

http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/21/civil-society-groups-urge-trade-transparency/

Civil Society Groups Urge Trade
Transparency<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/21/civil-society-groups-urge-trade-transparency/>
by Sunlight PolicyNov. 21, 2013, 10:13 a.m.

[image: Globe_iStock_000000745385Small]<http://sunlightfoundation.com/media/2013/11/iStock_000000745385Small.jpg>Today,
the Sunlight Foundation joined with more than 30 Civil Society
organizations from around the world and
urged<https://gist.github.com/MRumsey/7572282> leaders
to conduct the Trans-Pacific Partnership and any future trade negotiations
in "a manner consistent with the democratic principles and openness and
accountability."

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, along with
other<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/06/a-brief-history-of-secretive-trade-negotiations/>
recent
trade deals, has been negotiated under a cloud of
secrecy<http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21583995-negotiations-secret-optimism-about-path-breaking-trade-deal-hard-share-trade>,
with only cursory public input. This secrecy represents a failed
strategy<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/12/european_parliament_acta_resolution/>that
is in direct conflict with the ideals of openness embraced by many of the
participating nations, who are also proud members of the Open Government
Partnership. It is time for negotiating countries to heed the
growing<http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/08/15/editorials/shedding-light-on-the-tpps-impact/#.Uo04z2RO-CZ>
 desire<http://www.3news.co.nz/Opposition-vocal-about-TPP-deal/tabid/1607/articleID/321332/Default.aspx#.Uo04qmRO-CZ>
 for transparency<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/14/recent-developments-show-desire-for-trade-talk-transparency/>
in
these talks.

The letter, which calls "for governments around the world live up to their
own rhetoric and extend their commitments to openness and public
participation to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and any future
negotiations," can be viewed in full below.

Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia
Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Sebastian Pinera, President of Chile
Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan
Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia
Enrique Pena Nieto, President of Mexico
John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand
Ollanta Humala, President of Peru
Tony Tan, President of Singapore
Ma Ying-jeou, President of Taiwan
Barack Obama, President of the United States of America
Truong Tan Sang, President of Vietnam

We, the undersigned civil society groups, urge you to conduct any further
trade negotiations in a manner consistent with the democratic principles of
openness and accountability.

Countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations must
reconcile the radically secretive process against the transparency values
they purport to hold, to strengthen the legitimacy of any international
agreements, and to seek appropriate balance between corporate and public
interests.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a binding international agreement that
could have far-reaching implications for commerce and trade around the
globe, while modifying or undermining policies affecting consumer safety,
access to medicine, intellectual property rights, and internet freedom.
Twelve Pacific Rim countries participated in the most recent round of
negotiations, which took place this August in Brunei, and several others
have expressed interest in joining.

This agreement has the power to override national and local legislation on
any number of issues because signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership
will be required to bring existing and future national policies into
compliance with the international norms established in the agreement.
Despite the substantive importance of this agreement and growing
international support for “open government” principles, it has been
negotiated in secret, with only cursory input from the public; only
government officials and a small group of industry representatives have
been given access to the drafts of this agreement.

Many of the very same countries that have participated in the secret
Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, including Chile, New Zealand, the
United States, Australia, Peru, Mexico, and Canada, attended this month’s
Open Government Partnership meeting to tout their commitments to
transparency. But, the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating process has
embodied the opposite values -- secrecy and elite access that undermines
the democratic principles that these countries purport to represent.

The secrecy surrounding the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations has led
to a widespread and decisively negative public reaction, including growing
opposition in the U.S. Congress and among Members of Parliament in New
Zealand, frustration in Japan and Australia, and skepticism all around the
world. As shown by reaction to recent disclosures by Wikileaks which, for
the first time, allowed advocates and experts to see and analyze a portion
of the agreement, there is a clear need, and desire, for the public to have
access to the negotiation process. Allowing industry representatives, in
particular, to have access to the drafts and negotiation process all but
guarantees that corporate interests will be represented at the expense of
the public interest in areas as diverse as freedom of expression, access to
medicine, consumer product safety, and many more.

In order to ensure that democratic principles are preserved, policy makers,
civil society, and members of the public must be given the opportunity to
have a level of participation and engagement in this process that is at
least equal to that of industry representatives. Attempting to conduct
international negotiations in secret has proven untenable in the past, with
public opposition swelling when details of the plans are apparently leaked
by those in positions of power who share these concerns. We believe that it
is time for governments around the world live up to their own rhetoric and
extend their commitments to openness and public participation to the
Trans-Pacific Partnership and any future negotiations.

Signed,

Africa Freedom of Information Centre
ARTICLE 19, Global Campaign for Free Expression
Center for Effective Government
Center for Independent Journalism, Romania
Centre for Law and Democracy
Christopher Allan Webber
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington -- CREW
Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society
Common Cause Zambia
Concerned Citizen
CPI Foundation, Sarajevo
David Eaves
Diritto Di Sapere
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Fundación Ciudadano Inteligente
Global Financial Integrity
Government Accountability Project
Knowledge Economy International
IndyMedia
International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development -- INFID
Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association
Melbourne Social Forum
New Rules for Global Finance
OpenTheGovernment.org
Oxfam America
Pro Media
Project on Government Oversight -- POGO
Public Knowledge
Sean Flynn, American University Washington College of Law
Sunlight Foundation
The Open Knowledge Foundation
Windmill
view raw<https://gist.github.com/MRumsey/7572282/raw/be9d6d48a54c32f06d2d58be484126b3c24407ed/Trans-Pacific+Partnership+Transparency+Letter.md>Trans-Pacific
Partnership Transparency
Letter.md<https://gist.github.com/MRumsey/7572282#file-trans-pacific-partnership-transparency-letter-md>
hosted
with ❤ by GitHub <https://github.com/>
Tags:

On Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Julia Keserű <
jkeseru at sunlightfoundation.com> wrote:

> (Sorry for the cross-post.)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Dear all, The Sunlight Foundation asks that you join us in our fight to
> shed light on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations and bring
> transparency to all future trade negotiations. The Trans-Pacific
> Partnership
> <http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/14/recent-developments-show-desire-for-trade-talk-transparency/>
> is a binding international agreement that could have far-reaching
> implications. Twelve Pacific Rim countries participated in the most recent
> round of negotiations, which took place this August in Brunei, and several
> others have expressed interest in joining. Despite the need for public
> scrutiny and participation in these important negotiations, they have
> happened almost entirely in secret. This must change. In the attached
> letter, we urge the leaders of the involved countries to complete
> negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership in public view and commit
> to full transparency in all future international trade negotiations. We
> encourage you to join us in our fight for transparency and sign the
> enclosed letter. To do so, we ask that you fill out this short form
> <https://docs.google.com/a/sunlightfoundation.com/forms/d/1r-Jgt9LM55bIGIUjx5cFnSXSovddAmaiLUcfmNnfnwU/viewform>
> by the end of your work day on Monday, November 18th. You can see who has
> already signed on here
> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoQuErjcV2a0dGVuRjg0ckYza2NqYkR6YnpwbU1jc2c&usp=sharing>!
> Thank you for your time and support. Best, Julia Keseru Sunlight Foundation
> *
>
> --
> Júlia Keserű
> International Program Coordinator
>
> 1818 N Street NW, Suite 300
> Washington, DC 20036
> (1) 202-742-1520 *280
>
> [image: Sunlight Foundation] <http://sunlightfoundation.com/> [image:
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> Foundation on YouTube] <http://www.youtube.com/sunlightfoundation> <http://sunlightfoundation.com/feeds/latest/>
>

-- 
Júlia Keserű
International Program Coordinator

1818 N Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
(1) 202-742-1520 *280

[image: Sunlight Foundation] <http://sunlightfoundation.com/> [image:
Sunlight Foundation on
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