FOI
Views of Civil Society on USTR Review of Trade-Related Transparency Policies
Submitted by Malini Aisola on 26. March 2009 - 14:07As mentioned in an earlier KEI blog, on Thursday, March 19, a group of public interest groups met with the Obama administration’s trade officials. As a result of this meeting, USTR has promised to review its policies on transparency and invited groups to submit concrete proposals for evaluation. Further, these proposals are to be discussed as part of the review process in a follow up meeting next month.
Proposed areas of discussion include:
Obama trade officials promise thorough review of transparency policies
Submitted by James Love on 20. March 2009 - 9:08The following report was prepared by KEI, and reviewed by Daniel Sepulveda of USTR:
Canada on disclosure of ACTA documents
Submitted by James Love on 15. March 2009 - 6:42Michael Geist reports he has obtained under the Canada Access to Information Act” a confidential November 2008 memorandum written by Stockwell Day, the Canada Minister of International Trade, that says in part:
European Parliament debate on transparency of ACTA documents
Submitted by James Love on 14. March 2009 - 12:06From the European Parliament is a call for more transparency of ACTA documents. This is a report from Sina Amoor Pour of Sweden, posted to the A2K listserve:
Who are the cleared advisors that have access to secret ACTA documents?
Submitted by James Love on 13. March 2009 - 14:44The negotiating text of ACTA and many other documents, including even the lists of participants in the negotiations, are secret. The White House claims the secrecy is required as a matter of national security. But that does not mean the documents are off limits to everyone outside of the government. Hundreds of advisors, many of them corporate lobbyists, are considered “cleared advisors.” They have access to the ACTA documents.
