Comment on United States, 11 Pacific Rim countries reach trade deal

By PAUL WISEMAN, CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News: World
Mon, 10/05/2015 - 10:17pm

United States, 11 Pacific Rim countries reach trade deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries reached a contentious trade pact Monday that cuts trade barriers, sets labor and environmental standards and protects multinational corporations' intellectual property. Medical groups were concerned by a U.S. push to extend the patents of drugs that would limit access to life-saving medicines in poor countries. Referring to China, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a news conference Tuesday that the agreement is a new trade system that strengthens the economic rule of law for the member countries that share principles such as democracy, basic human rights and freedom. In the U.S., Obama has pursued the pact against the objections of many lawmakers in his own Democratic Party and instead forged rare consensus with Republicans. Judit Rius Sanjuan, legal policy adviser to Doctors Without Borders, said in a statement that the pact "will still go down in history as the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries." Critics also worried that the deal would enable multinational companies to challenge different countries' laws and regulations in private tribunals on the grounds they inhibit trade, undermining local laws on public health and the environment. [...] in a statement, the trade ministers in Atlanta said the pact has safeguards that prevent "abusive and frivolous claims and ensure the right of governments to regulate in the public interest, including on health, safety, and environmental protection."

 

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