Trade threat to Aussie egg industry

The egg industry here in Australia appears to be oblivious to the threat of  the Trans Pacific Partnership which is still being negotiated. Trade Minister Andrew Robb has been holding talks in Sydney this weekend which could see the importation of cheap eggs - but our farmers don't seem to care.
The Canadian Egg Industry is more aware of the potential threat to their businesses, but here, the big players prefer to look the other way.
http://www.eggfarmers.ca/international-trade/international-trade-agreements/

No agreement on the TPP

Many people are celebrating the lack of agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership after four days of negotiations in Singapore.

It's clear that support for such a massive free trade agreement involving 12 countries is waning as some of the individual countries see little value for their own economies.  Major sticking points concern market access and differences over tariffs on imported goods.

Negotiators had initially hoped that a draft agreement would emerge from the talks and that a deal would be ready in April.

But arguments over the issues of tariffs on specific goods have proved difficult to overcome.

Agricultural tariffs are particularly sensitive for Japan, which is trying to protect its rice, wheat, beef and pork as well as dairy and sugar, from outside competition.

Some other TPP members (such as Australia) with large agricultural production available for export, are pushing for the elimination of all tariffs. Industries in some countries would be decimated by the complete removal of tariffs.

Trans-Pacific Partnership dead in the water?

It's gradually looking like the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement will be scuttled. More than 120 US Congressmen have written to the US Trade Representative in Washington (Michael Froman) expressing concern that the TPP may weaken environmental protections.

This prompted Ilana Solomon, Director of the Sierra Club’s Responsible Trade Program, to release the following statement:
"Members of Congress have sent a clear message that they will not accept a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal if it lacks a fully enforceable and robust environment chapter.

"Recently leaked documents show us that while the U.S. government is pushing to strengthen conservation elements of the chapter, it’s also pushing to weaken rules related to climate disruption and biodiversity.

“An acceptable environment chapter must address many challenges -- from trade in illegally harvested timber to harmful practices like shark finning -- and would need to be supported by a full trade deal that doesn’t cut away at progress that has been made to keep our air, water, and land clean.

That means negotiators should reject the dispute resolution process that gives corporations unfettered rights, and the U.S. government should push to ensure foreign companies don’t seize control of American gas exports and open the floodgate to more dangerous fracking.”

Hopefully discussions currently underway in Singapore will fail.

The real reason for Toyota, GM and Alcoa pulling out of Australia

The real reason for Toyota, General Motors and Ford pulling out of manufacturing in Australia may have been revealed today. Federal Trade Minister Andrew Robb announced a Free Trade Agreement with South Korea. He said that tariffs on Australian exports will be removed under the agreement and that the deal would deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in exports.
 

Plans are also well advanced for the Trans Pacific Partnership which will extend so-called 'free trade' still further and this may have helped to trigger Alcoa's decision to close its Geelong smelter. Alcoa is "repositioning" itself in the global market place - it already has operations in South Korea and Indonesia. The TPP could be signed in Singapore this week.

"As a result of the agreement, tariffs will be eliminated on Australia's major exports to Korea and there will be significant new market openings in services and investment," said Minister Robb.
 

"As part of the FTA, tariffs of up to 300 per cent will be eliminated on key Australian agricultural exports such as beef, wheat, sugar, dairy, wine, horticulture and seafood, as well as resources, energy and manufactured goods.”
 

It is claimed that the benefits of the FTA will start immediately, with some modelling suggesting that the Free Trade Agreement would be worth $5 billion between 2015 and 2030 and could boost the economy by around $650 million annually after 15 years.
 

The suggestion is that Australian automotive suppliers will benefit from the immediate removal of tariffs as high as eight per cent; the wine industry from tariffs of 15 per cent and Australian wheat growers, potato farmers and cherry, grape and mango producers would all benefit.

 

If we believe that, we deserve everything we get!!

Unfortunately it seems that currently Australia's largest export through our ports is shipping containers! They arrive here full but as we have little to put in them, most are loaded empty onto the container ships - so effectively we are exporting Australian air.

Ask Tony Abbott to think again.
http://action.sumofus.org/a/australia-tpp/2/3/?akid=4011.1781662.iSzI7W&rd=1&sub=fwd&t=5

Imported eggs on the way to Australia?

With Australian supermarkets squealing about a shortage of eggs, pressure is on for imports. Already some countries are eyeing off Australia as a potential market for shell eggs - and once the Trans Pacific Partnership is in place there will be no legal means to stop them.

Exports of U.S. table eggs in 2013 were an all-time high - 187.93 million dozen valued at $184.24 million, up 50 percent from 2012 - thanks largely to increased shipments to Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The top markets for U.S. table eggs in 2013 were Mexico, 62.2 million dozen, up from 17 million dozen in 2012; Hong Kong, 51.4 million dozen, up 11 percent; Canada, 39.3 million dozen, up 50 percent; the U.A.E., 11.4 million dozen, down 11 percent; the European Union, 8.6 million dozen, down 2 percent.

The dodgy Trans-Pacific Partnerhip agreement

The Australian Government says that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is 'a viable pathway for realising the vision of a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific.'

It says that the Asia-Pacific region is a driver of global economic growth with close to half of all global trade.

The secretive TPP negotiations include five of Australia’s top 10 trading partners, Japan, United States, Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia. The Government claims that Australia’s participation in the TPP negotiations will strengthen our trade relationship with these key trading partners. The TPP also includes Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Peru, and Vietnam – and others have been invited to join.

But if it is all it's cracked up to be, why are the negotiations not public? There are huge global businesses pushing the agenda and it seems that they don't want us to know what is going on.

Information which has been leaked about the negotiations causes many concerns over things like the trashing of national food safety regulations and draconian enforcement measures over intellectual property rights.

If the TPP is implemented it will take 'free trade' to a completely different level and we can kiss goodbye to food safety standards. Our own industry will be under attack as there will no way to prevent the importation of eggs from any of the participating countries.

Have a look at:

https://www.eff.org/issues/tpp