July 09, 2015
Past claims undone by TPPA
One of the people behind a claim against New Zealand signing up the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement says the so called trade deal will undo any progress Maori hope to make from the WAI 262 flor and fauna and intellectual property claim.
Moana Jackson says getting a claim before the Waitangi Tribunal has been extremely difficult because of the negotiations have been secret.
But he says the drafts that have leaked out show domestic law could be overridden by foreign companies, even when it involves Treaty of Waitangi issues.
"The arguments raised in the WAI 262 claim about the need for Maori to be kaitiaki of our taonga and so on was necessarily subject to an earlier agreement, the TRIPS or Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, and that is being included in the TPPA, so that will render any protections our people hope for under WAI 262 to be null and void," Mr Jackson says.
The Waitangi Tribunal is still considering whether to give the claim an urgent hearng.
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