Let the TPPA debate begin

By Stephanie Jacob

After five years of secret negotiations, a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) has been reached and the public will finally get look at the whole document. In Malaysia, the government has promised an opportunity for debate and discussion before it signs the deal. It promises to be feisty debate.

Five years in the making, the 12 nations negotiating the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) finally reached a consensus last night in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, US. It has been a long journey and at times it looked like the negotiators would not achieve an agreement

There was the enormous challenge of negotiating between 12 nations, each with its own agendas to push and priority areas to protect. For the Japanese and Americans, it was their auto sector to protect. For the New Zealanders, it was getting tariffs on dairy exports removed. Malaysians wanted to ensure that its state-owned enterprises and bumiputra policies will be protected.

And just about every nation besides the US had concerns over the extensions on intellectual property rights for medicines.

But perhaps more difficult to deal with was the homegrown criticism that all of them faced. In fact, not a single government managed to escape some form of criticism at home over its participation in the negotiations.

In Malaysia, the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) which primarily handled the negotiations faced plenty of criticisms, some of them fair and some of them ridiculous, from activists and politicians across the political spectrum. More than once, the negotiating team were unfoundedly accused of selling the nation interests to the highest bidder.

There must have been times when the negotiators wondered if it was all worth it. And so when they finally reached an agreement there must have been a sigh of relief that a consensus had finally been reached.

But the hard work is not over, in fact for many of the negotiating teams including Malaysia’s, the real work is just beginning. Now that a deal has been reached the governments of these 12 nations have to sell it to their people and this promises to be no easy task.

Perhaps the biggest sticking point many have with the TPPA is that it was negotiated in secret. What little is known came from leaked versions of the text, which was enough to raise fears but not enough to present a holistic picture of the deal.

The reasoning for secrecy is simple: trade agreements require give-and-take and must be viewed in a holistic manner. Secrecy is necessary to allow negotiations to proceed in a frank manner. Furthermore, as the text is constantly changing as negotiations progress, earlier versions quickly become obsolete.

Critics however asked a simple question – would you sign a document you have not read?

Mustapa Mohamed

So there are two fair points, each at either end of the spectrum. But there is a middle ground here, and that is to release it for public scrutiny and to debate it in Parliament. Which is exactly what Miti Minister Mustapa Mohamed promised would happen when an agreement was finally reached.

He reiterated this yesterday in a statement marking the agreement, saying “let me reiterate that whether or not Malaysia becomes a party to the TPPA will be a collective decision. Once the complete and official text of the agreement is prepared, it will be in the public domain and presented to Parliament for debate. We will also hold full consultations with interested parties and the public”.

Technically the government does not have to present the agreement to Parliament or even have to make the agreement public. Under Malaysian laws, the prime minister has the authority to sign trade agreements without it going though a consultation period.

But Mustapa has often said that the days of government knows best are over and he is right. Him wanting to bring the deal to Parliament is a mark of political maturity and it is good to see.

It is a promise that Malaysians will hold him to and the process must be more than just a formality. The opposition and activists against the deal must be given a chance to voice their views and the government must give fair consideration to those concerns. Similarly those arguing against the trade agreement should debate in good faith and not use this platform for their own political expediency.

And the Malaysian public should keep an open mind about the deal because the truth is we do not know if it is a good or bad deal for our country, yet.

The reality is that Malaysian businesses’ growth prospects are limited due to the size of our market. Venturing outside our own shores to grow is necessary for many companies and trade agreements can help facilitate that. For example the agreement will establish trade agreements with Canada, Mexico, Peru and the US, which we do not have currently.

In any deal, there will need to be give and take and this is something Mustapa has reiterated many times. Malaysia is not going to get all it wants and it should not have to give up everything either.

We must be realistic when we evaluate this deal and judge the TPPA based on cost-benefit analysis. If we find that on balance and in the long-term Malaysia benefits from this deal, then let us be bold enough to sign on and ride out the near-term bumps. Similarly if we find we are giving up too much, let us not be afraid to walk away.

GRRRRR!!!