26 MARCH 2010 - La Republica and IPS report that a former Peruvian Deputy Minister of Labour, Julio Gamero, has warned that the large number of trade agreeements Peru has signed in the past year, as well as the impending negotiations in the TPP, may be having a negative impact on labour rights.

Gamero warned IPS that over the past three years, the number of collective bargaining agreements, health and safety inspections, and unionised members of the workforce has fallen dramatically. He is critical of the government's response, saying that it was not until a US delegation on labour issues visited Lima that a liaison office between government and unions was created. Coordinator for the Peruvian Network for Globalisation with Equity (RedGE), Alejandra Alayza, says it is essential to guarantee labour rights in any further agreements so that workers may share in the benefits.

The IPS article, which follows below, also looks at the effect of tariff-lowering on peasant farmers, as well as the TPA with the United States's impact on indigenous forestry rights and intellectual property.

18 MAY 2010 - The leaders of trade union councils from New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Peru, Singapore, and the US (though not Vietnam or Brunei) have written a joint letter to the Trade Ministers involved in TPP negotiations, calling for greater transparency in the negotiation of the agreement from this point forward. The letter, which follows below the break, argues that this set of negotiations present an opportunity for an agreement to be worked out in a more open and participatory way. It recommends that:

- An official joint TPP website be created and regularly updated with information about upcoming rounds and the ability for civil society groups to respond and post documents and and proposals;

- 'side rooms' be established at each round of negotiations for civil society groups could be briefed on the course of the agreement and present their views;

- consultations with civil society groups be on-going, not 'one offs';

- TPP negotiating members with indigenous populations consult such populations with procedures in accordance with ILO Convention 169.