Services / GATS / TISA

The Tisa Threat to Food and Agriculture: The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association's (IUF) presentation at the WTO Public Forum 2014 – Uni Global Union/Public Services International Panel How a proposed trade in services agreement (TISA) matters to everyone

OWINFS organized an event at WTO Pubic Forum 2014, "Prospects for Trade, Development, and Reducing Inequality: Doha, post-Bali, and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals" on 2nd October 2014

The United States and its close ‘allies' in industrialised countries, appear to be bent on continuing their campaign to paralyse all negotiations and talks at the WTO - on the other parts of the Bali package, a post-Bali work programme, and the Doha Round - by refusing ‘to work' on other issues, until the US-EU cherished protocol on the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is agreed to and delivered. In this SUNS - South North Development Monitor article By Chakravarthi Raghavan analyses latest state of play in WTO negotiations and US & allies' negotiation strategies.

On the occasion of Global Trade Summit convened by PSI and it's affiliates in Washington, D.C., on 15-17 September 2014, PSI and Our World is not For Sale (OWINFS) launched a new Special Report by Ellen Gould entitled "The Really Good Friends of Transnational Corporations Agreement" on the first day of the Global Summit. The report was launched with the objective to overcome the secrecy and complexity surrounding the negotiations on trade in services agreement (TISA) and bring it into the public sphere for a democratic debate.

The Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) is becoming an issue for many people in Europe. Negotiated in secret in Geneva for almost two years by over 50 countries, including the European Union, USA, Japan, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Australia and South Korea, it has taken months of work from global researchers and a spectacular leak from Julian Assange’s Wikileaks to expose anything about its contents.

The Public Services International, a global trade union federation reiterates its opposition to Trade In Services Agreement, in the backdrop of WikiLeaks release of TISA - Financial Services Annex text

A new report TISA versus Public Services by Public Services International (PSI) warns that governments are planning to take the world on a liberalisation spree on a scale never seen before. According to the report, this massive trade deal will put public healthcare, broadcasting, water, transport and other services at risk. The proposed deal could make it impossible for future governments to restore public services to public control, even in cases where private service delivery has failed. It would also restrict a government’s ability to regulate key sectors including financial, energy, telecommunications and cross-border data flows.

In this critical blog Deborah James, Director, International Programs at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, writes on some of the key messages from the Global civil society, trade unions and people's movements on What's Going on at the WTO? Opportunities and Risks Before the 9th Ministerial Meeting.