TISA Exposed: 'Holy Grail' of Leaks Reveals Detailed Plot for Corporate Takeover

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"Together, the three treaties form not only a new legal order shaped for transnational corporations, but a new economic 'grand enclosure,' which excludes China and all other BRICS countries," declared WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assangein a press statement. What's more, it adds, "[a]ll three treaties have been subject to stringent criticism for the lack of transparency and public consultation in their negotiation processes."

The texts published Wednesday cover everything from financial services to telecommunications to migrant labor protections.

Overall, the leak provides further evidence of how "a self-selected group of mainly rich countries" plans to "bypass other governments in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and rewrite its services agreement in the interests of their corporations," reads an expert analysis penned by University of Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey. "It also makes the new risks from TISA to governments' right to regulate in their national interest much clearer.

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For example, the Government Procurement (GP) annex, which covers purchasing by all government agencies of services such as construction or infrastructure maintenance, "creates an international legal regime which aims to deregulate and privatize the supply of services—which account for the majority of the economy across TISA countries," according to WikiLeaks.

In her analysis of that section, Third World Network legal adviser Sanya Reid Smith states that the GP text aims to "undermine the deliberate government policies of a number of developed and developing TISA countries which try to promote their domestic services companies and hence local employment including for Indigenous peoples, etc. through GP laws and policies."

Another section leaked Wednesday is TISA's Transparency Annex—but the "transparency" covered in the text has nothing to do with increasing public awareness about the corporate-friendly trade deal.

In fact, WikiLeaks explains, "[t]he draft Annex aims to make governments more transparent to global commercial actors, creating obligations to notify and consult with transnational corporations on decisions and measures which may affect their interests."

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http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/01/tisa-exposed-holy-grail-leaks-reveals-detailed-plot-corporate-takeover