An Open Letter to President Obama: Tell U.S. Negotiators to oppose the tribunal system
in the TPP and TTIP.
The 13th round of negotiations on the TPP start in a couple of days in Malaysia and the first round or the US-EU talks on the TTIP begin in D.C. this week. Now is the time to tell U.S. negotiators that the tribunal system is unacceptable.
The tribunals under the TPP and TTIP, are extra judicial as are those under chapter 11 in NAFTA.
The tribunal "judges" are attorneys who rotate between serving on tribunal and advocating for the very corporations suing governments.
The tribunal system is grossly unfair to citizens of nations and states in the United states. If a corporation doesn't like a given state's environmental law, it can take that grievance not to a court in the state or a Federal state, but to to a TPP or TTIP Tribunal.
Under NAFTA, corporations that went to tribunals with grievances, won 70% of the time. It is my understanding that the tribunal system proposed under the TPP, is even more unbalanced.
The tribunal system is gamed for corporations. It has, under NAFTA, resulted in judgments that harm the environment and hurt people. That is true of the tribunal system in other U.S. trade agreements.
Our environmental and land use laws should never be subject to extra judicial review. In light of the above facts, I implore you to
instruct your negotiating teams to the TPP and TTIP, to oppose such tribunals.
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