Secret trade deals may undermine human rights: UN expert

Lack of awareness of the adverse impacts of bilateral and multilateral secret trade deals and investment agreements may lead to weakening of human rights in the developing countries, an independent UN rights expert has said.
"I am concerned about the secrecy surrounding negotiations for trade treaties, which have excluded key stakeholder groups from the process, including labour unions, environmental protection groups, food-safety movements and health professionals," said Alfred de Zayas, the UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order yesterday.
"Proactive disclosure by governments, genuine consultation and public participation in decision-making are indispensable to make these agreements democratically legitimate," he added.

The American lawyer who has been an independent UN expert since 2012, said, "I am especially worried about the impact that investor-state-arbitrations (ISDS) have already had and foresee ably will have on human rights, in particular the provision which allows investors to challenge domestic legislation and administrative decisions if these can potentially reduce their profits".
The UN observations come at a critical juncture when the US is scrambling to seek plurilateral trade deals which seek to cut trade barriers and harmonise standards.
Both the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)-a proposed free trade agreement between the US and the EU and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)-a proposed trade treaty between America and 11 Pacific Rim countries-have come under severe scrutiny for the ramifications they will have on the economic, legal and political structures of the US and other countries involved.

Corporations under the proposed TTP treaty will have the right to challenge government regulations and seek compensation from any of the 12 Pacific Rims nations on account of any unfair treatment .
"It has been argued that ISDS tilts the playing field away from democratic accountability, favouring "big business" over the rights and interests of labourers and consumer," he said.
"Because all States are bound by the United Nations Charter, all bi-lateral and international treaties must conform with the Charter," he added.