Should we trade poor people's lives with trade benefits for agro-industry corporations? This question has been posed by civic groups to the Yingluck Shinawatra government concerning the free-trade agreement negotiations between Thailand and the European Union. It is not the only question that needs to be answered, however.
The first round of the Thai-EU FTA negotiations will start next week in Belgium. Yet the public still knows little about how seriously this comprehensive trade package will affect the prices of medicines, seeds and other farm products now under the monopoly of pharma and agro industries.
The trade deal also poses a problematic issue for Thailand's sovereign rights if the government can be sued for issuing public interest laws that are perceived by big business to hurt their profits.
Public health groups have also expressed concerns that cheaper alcohol and cigarettes as a result of the Thai-EU FTA will aggravate drinking and smoking problems and put pressure on the public health system.
These concerns need to be addressed. People have the right to know about what will affect their lives and what measures the government will take to mitigate the risks. The government, however, is being secretive. It refused to reveal the trade negotiation framework until the last minute when it was hastily put forward for parliamentary approval late last month.
With the negotiations aiming to conclude within one-and-a-half years, and with the government unresponsive to public concerns, labour and public health civic groups, including people with HIV and Aids, took to the streets yesterday to put their proposals to the government. More than 1,500 people attended the rally.
The government is rushing through the Thai-EU FTA talks because Thailand's trade privileges under the Generalised System of Preferences, or GSP, will soon expire. While the extension of GSP privileges will benefit agro-industry giants and maintain export figures, it comes with an expensive price tag for people on the street.
Thailand observes multilateral trade rules and regulations set by the World Trade Organisation, which are already very strict and comprehensive. Under the Thai-EU bilateral deal, however, the EU is pressuring Thailand to accept provisions that go beyond its WTO obligations, especially on biodiversity and intellectual property rights. This means an extension of protection for patented medicines, lack of access to clinical data on unpatented drugs which will hamper the local pharmaceutical industry, and a firmer grip by the agro-industry on seeds and other farm products. In sum, it means more expensive drugs for patients and higher farming costs for farmers.
At the rally yesterday, the FTA Watch civic network laid out its proposals in an open letter to the prime minister. Among them: No to the provisions beyond the WTO obligations on biodiversity and intellectual property rights; the international dispute settlement mechanisms must not prevent the government from issuing public interest policies, especially on public health; No to investments that hurt the environment and food security; No to alcohol and tobacco negotiations; and the need for stakeholders to be consulted on every round of negotiations.
Instead of brushing off these proposals, the government should be open to policy input and use public pressure at home to negotiate for a better deal with the EU for the common good. Failure to do so would only prove the civic groups are right that this bilateral trade deal is designed only to serve big business interests.