NAFTA, CAFTA & SHAFTA

Look out people, here come da SHAFT!
Aaaahhh… trade deals. An opportunity for the corporate leaders of the world to stick it to the little guys once again.
In this case the latest contender in the battle against food freedom in the form of ‘free trade agreements,’ is the TTIP, or as it should be termed, the ‘eat, breathe and drink our poison or we will sue for loss of profits’ deal.
Europe’s fears over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are not abating, while America is beginning to show signs of impatience. Europe and the United States have reached a standoff in the TTIP negotiations, over the question of the Investor State Dispute Settlement.
This mechanism could give companies the opportunity to take legal action against a state whose legislation has a negative impact on their economic activity.
‘France did not want the ISDS to be included in the negotiation mandate,’ Matthias Fekl told the French Senate. ‘We have to preserve the right of the state to set and apply its own standards, to maintain the impartiality of the justice system and to allow the people of France, and the world, to assert their values,’ he added.
German opposition to the ISDS mechanism is also very strong. The German Minister for Economic Affairs has often expressed his support for the trade deal with the United States, on the condition that it does not include the ISDS…

This post was published at FarmWars on Nov 24, 2014.