No Ordinary Deal

No Ordinary Deal: Unmasking the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement, brings together an international team of trade commentators and experts to argue the hazards, pitfalls, and false assumptions behind the deal hailed as 'an agreement for the 21st century'. Editor Jane Kelsey, along with eighteen other writers, take an in-depth look at the agreement from all levels - from national and indigenous democracy and representation, to food standards and sustainable agriculture, foreign control of banks, natural resources, and the protection (or erosion) of local arts and culture.

Published by Bridget Williams Books in November 2010, No Ordinary Deal joins the Series 21: Into A New Century series, alongside existing anthologies of critical discussion on the Cartwright Inquiry and New Zealand's Emissions Trading Scheme.

"The Trans Pacific Partnership is no ordinary free trade deal. Billed as an agreement fit for the twenty-first century, no one is sure what that means. For its champions in New Zealand a free trade agreement with the US is a magic bullet – opening closed doors for Fonterra into the US dairy market. President Obama sells it as the key to jobs and economic recovery, while protecting home markets. Australia hails it as a foundation stone for an APEC-wide free trade agreement.

None of these arguments stacks up. All eight participant countries except Vietnam are heavily liberalised, deregulated and privatised.* They already have twelve free trade deals between them. Who really believes that US dairy markets will be thrown open to New Zealand, or that China, India and Japan will sign onto a treaty they had no role in designing?

No Ordinary Deal unmasks the fallacies of the TPPA. Experts from Australia, New Zealand, the US and Chile examine the geopolitics and security context of the negotiations and set out some of the costs for New Zealand and Australia of making trade-offs to the US simply to achieve a deal.

‘Trade’ agreement is a misnomer. The TPPA is not primarily about imports and exports. Its obligations will intrude into core areas of government policy and Parliamentary responsibilities. If the US lobby has its way, the rules will restrict how drug-buying agencies Pharmac (in New Zealand) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (in Australia) can operate, and the
kind of food standards and intellectual property laws we can have. Foreign investors will be able to sue the government for reducing their profits. The TPPA will govern how we regulate the finance industry or other services, along with our capacity to create jobs at home.

Above all, No Ordinary Deal exposes the contradictions of locking our countries even deeper into a neoliberal model of global free markets – when even political leaders admit that this has failed."

Further Resources

No Ordinary Deal Information Sheet
No Ordinary Deal Official Press Release

Order No Ordinary Deal from Bridget Williams Books (recommended for NZ purchasers)

Order No Ordinary Deal from Allen & Unwin (recommended for Australia/rest of world orders)

Bibliography

Media Coverage

Op-Ed: "Trading Sovereignty for Short-term Advantage", by Jane Kelsey NZ Herald, 8 November 2010

"The Problem With Trading Down" by 'Pablo', Kiwipolitico.com, 9 November 2010

"Trail of false steps to summit" by Vernon Small, Dominion Post, 11 November 2010

Radio 95bFM interview with Professor Jane Kelsey, "The Wire", 11 November 2010

Radio New Zealand interview with Lori Wallach, "Morning Report", 12 November 2010

Radio Australia interview with Patricia Ranald, Lori Wallach, and Jane Kelsey, "Pacific Beat", 15 November 2010