The New Zealand Medical Association, the World Medical Association and the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) have identified concerns about the health consequences of trade and investment agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) between 12 Pacific Rim countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam). This paper synthesises some of the interim independent expert commentary on the released TPPA text. The authors express their concerns about the fact that the TTPA offers negligible support for implementation of United Nations and WHO health and human rights agreements, while it enhances the investment interests of foreign companies. Moreover, while the TPPA appears to allow some regulatory freedom, the NZ Government’s own analysis highlights that it places limitations on government’s future policy options. The authors ask that decisions on implementation and ratification are delayed until full and more comprehensive independent analysis of health impacts becomes available for public and Parliamentary scrutiny.
