What You're Not Supposed To Know About Secret Environmental Treaty

Right now, the public is not allowed to know the terms of the draft Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact likely to come up for a Senate vote this year. Yet the Senate has already begun voting on terms for considering the treaty. The American people, in effect, are being asked to buy a pig in a poke on a take it or leave it basis.

There is some concern that the treaty would allow other nations to override U.S. health, safety, and environmental protection laws. Just for example: after the World Trade Organization recently ruled against the United States because it has a law requiring meat to be labeled according to its country of origin, Congress has begun moving toward repeal of the law.

Fortunately for the U.S. public, WikiLeaks has already published a leaked version of the environmental chapter of the TPP treaty. Caveats apply, certainly: the text is a bit old and may have been changed — and we do not know other, more general, provisions in the draft treaty that could nullify U.S. environment, health, and safety law. But the authenticity of the text has not been effectively challenged.

With the TPP treaty now coming up, we are taking this opportunity to share the text of the draft environmental chapter with the public again.

• "WikiLeaks Exposes What Obama's Secret Trade Deal Would Do to the Environment," Mother Jones/Climate Desk, January 16, 2014, by Kate Sheppard.
• "Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Negotiations: Environment Chapter Consolidated Text," WikiLeaks, dated November 24, 2013; released by WikiLeaks January 15, 2014.
• Previous Story: WatchDog of January 22, 2014.