Secretive Mega-Trade Deal Rules Could Harm Asia ’s Covid-19 Recovery

Community Health warriors (Anganwadi center in Chennai, Tamil Nadu). Credit: Public Services International (PSI)By Lyndal RowlandsBANGKOK, Thailand, Nov 13 2020 (IPS) Fifteen countries will sign a mega-trade deal at the ASEAN conference this weekend imposing secretive restrictions on how governments help workers through the pandemic, trade union leaders and parliamentarians have warned. The text of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement is so secretive that even elected representatives have not been allowed to see it, even though it will potentially lock future governments into rules that will limit their abilities to make policies required in times of crisis or to improve access to public services and worker’s rights. Leaked documents have shown that the agreement limits the potential for governments to make policies, including policies to recover from the Covid-19 crisis said Risa Hontiveros a Senator from the Philippines. “This pandemic has shown us that we should never put the economy before our people,” she said at a press conference organised by Unions for Trade Justice on Thursday. Elected officials across the region fear that the agreement has been kept secret because it heavily favours large multinational corporations who help draft trade rules, over the local small and medium businesses that are struggling most due to the pandemic. “Even parliaments have no idea what the hell is being signed in the name of the people,” Charles Sa...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Asia-Pacific Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Labour TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news