Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)

[skid]

People need to use heritage seeds they are currently readily available.

I agree--problem is that the GE plants in a nearby farm can cross pollinate and turn the heritage crop into a GE strain.
Apparently this is happening in Mexico(the worlds largest corn producer)

[elguapo]

Apparently this is happening in Mexico(the worlds largest corn producer)

The US produces 10 times the corn Mexico does.

[skid]

I stand corrected-I would be interested to know how much of that corn is non GE.
They dont really have much of a choice over there --the cat is well and truly out of the bag in terms of GE.
The corporations that benefit have successfully lobbied for not having to let the public know on the labels if its GE or not, so its a bit of a lottery for the poor ole consumers.

[skid]

http://phys.org/news/2013-06-gmo-corn-soybeans-dominate.html

[eri]

certainly something fishy going on

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21591159-study-suggested-gm-food-may-cause-cancer-has-been-retracted-smelling-rat

[elguapo]

I stand corrected-I would be interested to know how much of that corn is non GE.
They dont really have much of a choice over there --the cat is well and truly out of the bag in terms of GE.

Over half of the corn crop is GM, for soya beans it's 98%. The cat has been out of the GM bag for more than a decade.

[Wayne]

GM or not is not the issue here.
The real issue is choice.
If we sign up for the TPP will we as a country still be able to decide our own future without being sued by some multi-national?
The answer is - we don't know because we aren't privy to the detail of what is being negotiated.

[Perry]

And there seems to be little chance that the
population will find out until it's too late!

[eri]

New Zealand would benefit more than most countries from a concluded Trans Pacific Partnership deal, former Labour trade minister Phil Goff told the Herald last night.
"We have the least barriers and therefore we have the least we have to give away," he said. "Other countries have to give away much more.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11170345

as a country that lives by exporting and importing

NZ needs the simplest trading agreement possible

Japan, as another islanding nation that also lives by trading also needs easy trade

but japan wants to have its cake and eat it too

they want to export toyotas to nz + oz without huge import tariffs

but don't want to accept tariff free apples, dairy + rice

so far nz + oz have had to lump that unequal playing field

but if korea were to sign a free trade agrement with nz

we could then get ours cars from them, our free trade partner

and wack as massive tariffs on japanese cars, as they do to our primary produce

japan would then have a choice

have their cake

or eat it

but not both

that's the real politic of the situation

imho nz should spend more time on individual free trade agreements

and only send token representation to the big agreements

because the big boys, who are run by vested interests, will do everything to scuttle trade agreements

that threaten those interests

[elguapo]

imho nz should spend more time on individual free trade agreements

Agree completely. James Hoffa, head of the US Teamsters Union was writing in the Huffington Post about PIT must end subsidies to 'NZ's state owned dairy industry' for the US to accept it. Given the massive, no colossal, subsidies US agriculture gets that's not just a lie, it's an obscene lie.

[Perry]

Of course there's the turnaround and point back at government option.

When ramming through ever-increasing laws eroding privacy rights, the
constant cant is that only those with something to hide have any thing
to fear.

What then does the government have to hide and be fearful about in
the TPPA? Something it asserts is so good for the NZ citizenry!

[eri]

the squeaking hinge gets the oil

democracy now is almost broken as people with too much time on their hands search for things to get upset about

and then YELL + YELL + YELL until they get their way

damn what's good for the majority, it's fringe rules for all

you just have to look at the farcical fluoride situation in hamilton to see this

http://www.waikatodhb.govt.nz/page/pageid/2145879260/Fluoride_in_water.html

so it's no surprise that this gov. every gov. tries to keep its cards close to their chest

[Wayne]

democracy now is almost broken as people with too much time on their hands search for things to get upset about

agree - we need a war or something to give people something to really worry about.

[skid]

http://www.ticotimes.net/More-news/News-Briefs/Infinito-Gold-to-move-forward-with-billion-dollar-lawsuit-against-Costa-Rica_Thursday-June-20-2013

To bad these guys didnt have a bit more "to much time on their hands" before they signed this agreement

[skid]

A relitively balanced article by Oxfam

http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/Signing%20Away%20the%20Future.pdf