Press release
www.itsourfuture.org.nz
13 November 2012

TPP Out of the Shadows —What they won't tell us and why we should be worried

On 27 November www.itsourfuture.org.nz will host three of the world's foremost critical voices on international free trade and investment agreements to explain potential impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

The free event TPP Out of the Shadows —What they won't tell us and why we should be worried will be held at 6pm, Tuesday 27 November at Loaves and Fishes Hall, in the Wellington Cathedral.

Lori Wallach (Public Citizen), Sanya Reid Smith (Third World Network), and Professor Jane Kelsey (University of Auckland) will deliver presentations and take questions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a treaty being negotiated in secret between the United States, New Zealand, and 9 other countries on the Asia-Pacific rim.

The TPPA is one the biggest political issues facing New Zealand, it involves eleven Asian and Pacific-rim countries — including the United States — and it being negotiated in secret with no possibility of public oversight. The information presented has been sourced from leaked documents and the detective work of committed researchers.

If the TPPA goes ahead, New Zealand risks major damage to our economy, our environment, our health, and the ability to shape our own future.

About the presenters

Lori Wallach
Lori Wallach has been Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch since 1995. The Wall Street Journal described her as “Ralph Nader with a sense of humor”. Lori’s work translating arcane trade legalese (entire proposed international commercial agreements) into relevant, accessible prose has had significant national and international impact.

Sanya Reid Smith
Sanya Reid Smith is a Legal Advisor and Senior Researcher at the Third World Network, an influential international coalition specialising in development issues and North-South affairs. Sanya travels the world in tireless advocacy for poor people in developing nations, on topics including access to medicines, womens' rights and environmental sustainability.

Jane Kelsey
Jane Kelsey is one of New Zealand's best-known critical analysts and commentators on trade agreements, globalisation, and neoliberalism. Jane has taught law at the University of Auckland since 1979 and is New Zealand's foremost critical authority on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

ENDS

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/335439409888625/

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