There are media reports suggesting that the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement may be imminent.
Vehicle issues have been resolved. Issues concerning pharmaceuticals still remain with New Zealand being strangely silent.
From Jo Moir in Stuff:
The issue has pitted the United States, which has argued for longer protections, against Australia and five other delegations who say such measures would strain national healthcare budgets and keep life-saving medicines from patients who cannot afford them.
Australia was happy with a compromise that would preserve its existing five-year protection period coupled with a buffer of extra time, a source close to the negotiations said.
But the source cautioned that other countries still had to agree. “There’s an 80 to 90 per cent chance” of a final deal, the person said.
A second source said that the position of Chile and Peru on the compromise was still unclear but the source was optimistic of success.
“Everything suggests that we can close” the agreement, the second person close to the closed-door negotiations said.
The United States offers 12 years of exclusivity for the clinical data used in developing drugs like cancer therapy Avastin, developed by Genentech, a division of Roche in order to encourage innovation.
Australia has insisted on five years of protection to bring down drug prices more quickly.
“We could live with some extension, but not, we don’t think a dramatic one,” Key told The Nation.
Thankfully the Australians are standing up to the Americans on the issue. New Zealand seems to be strangely silent, perhaps a result of all of those golf games.
As for dairy I can do no better than quote the words of our beloved leader who says that the TPPA isn’t “a very good deal for dairy”.
If dairy is the last issue waiting to be resolved I am sure New Zealand will buckle. Its lap dog approach to the negotiations preclude it from growing a spine now.
So limited market increase for a product that most farmers can’t currently produce economically, increased costs of pharmaceuticals and the introduction of a far reaching investor state dispute resolution procedure. You have to question why we are even thinking of signing this agreement. And our Prime Minister insists that no one knows what they are talking about because he has kept the terms of the agreement confidential.
This is one trade deal I believe we do not need to be in on the action with and a deal our Government should refuse to sign.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress
