2009: Obama trade officials promise thorough review of transparency policies
The following report was prepared by KEI, and reviewed by Daniel Sepulveda of USTR:
Author: James Love
Meeting at DOJ on the Ticketmaster /Live Nation merger
Yesterday’s meeting at DOJ on the Ticketmaster Live Nation (TM/LN) merger lasted about 90 minutes. Several civil society NGOs groups showed up for the meeting. There were also several persons from age 17 to 65, who go to live events, play in bands, and preform in local venues. Continue Reading
What should be transparent in trade and treaty negotiations?
KEI doing work on the transparency of global trade and treaty negotiations, particularly but not exclusively as relates to IPR negotiations.
One area that has received attention recently (after a year of complaints), seems to be recent USTR denial of access to the negotiating texts of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is basically an IPR enforcement agreement only marginally related to the emotive title, “counterfeits.”
Canada on disclosure of ACTA documents
Michael 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
From 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:
March 2009 news stories on the denial of access to ACTA documents under FOIA on national security grounds
The following are some of the stories on the denial of the ACTA FOIA request on national security grounds.
March 12, 2009
https://www.keionline.org/blogs/2009/03/12/acta-state-secret/
Obama Administration Rules Texts of New IPR Agreement are State Secrets
Huffington Post, James Love, March 12, 2009.
Who are the cleared advisors that have access to secret ACTA documents?
The 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.
WHO issues mild statement on transit of medicines
The WHO has just issued a statement on the transit of medicines. It is short and mild. The statement does not mention goods in transit in the title. It does not mention at all that medicines have been seized. The best part of the statement is the following quote:
Ensuring that the interests of trade and health are appropriately managed, also means that the flow of legitimate medicines, including generic medicines, is not impeded.
The action part of the statement is weak, however:
White House says ACTA text a State Secret. EU parliament says time for more transparency
On January 31, 2009, KEI submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to USTR for copies of seven documents containing much of the negotiating text of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Today the White House office the United States Trade Representative denied the request, claiming the documents are “information that is properly classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958.”
PhRMA Special 301 submission on Thailand
The following discusses the 2009 PhRMA submission for the USTR Special 301 list on Thailand. Thailand is one of three Asian countries (China, Philippines and Thailand) that were singled out by PhRMA for the harshest treatment. The submission on Thailand covers several topics, including these: