In the current state visit to the United States, in the presence of Barack Obama, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announce thatIndonesia is willing to join the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP). Whereas TPP trade agreement will potentially crush the community rights and on the other hand requires Indonesia to liberalise reckless economic system of the country as opposed to the 1945 Constitution, particularly Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution.
Potential ruin of community rights and a violation of the 1945 constitution were due to TPP because it will:
1. Eliminating state control over the public sector
TPP encourage countries to open its public sector to be penetrated by foreign investment, particularly the United States, up to 100 percent. All forms the negative list of investment in this sector are minimized. Certainly by the corporate control of the public sector will have an impact on the loss of public access to the public sector’s strategy, such as water and electricity. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
2. Strengthen the dominance of foreign corporation in the procurement of government goods and services
TPP encourage the procurement of government goods and services accessible to foreign companies so that TPP regulates the need for the principle of non-discrimination and national treatment to foreign companies in this activity. This is because US businesses targets the procurement of government goods and services that worth trillions of dollars. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
3. ‘Disempower’ SOEs for the national interest
TPP want to make sure the state does not provide subsidies to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) so that foreign corporations could win the competition. During this time, the state is considered to have monopolized the business at domestic level through state support, either in the form of cheap loans, tax exemptions, as well as the luxury of being able to exclude a law. TPP will apply the principle of non-discrimination as well as intense competition law for SOEs. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
4. Eliminating access to cheap medicines
The application of patent protection standards in the rules of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the TPP has eliminated public access to cheap medicines. This is because the TPP removes the flexibility provisions The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) within the WTO, which has been used by many countries to make generic drugs from drugs patented by US pharmaceutical companies in the public interest. Elimination of the provisions of TRIPS flexibilities in the TPP result in a monopoly of medicines by foreign corporations with high prices. Moreover TPP apply a higher standard of protection of TRIPS in the WTO, namely to guarantee patent protection more than 20 years. In addition, TPP also implement data exclusivity has been patented. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
5.Threaten food sovereignty and the sovereignty of the farmers
Still related to the implementation of standards of patent protection in IPR rules in TPP, the agricultural sector will experience the same thing inthe drug sector. During this time, foreign seed companies and pesticide, such as Bayer, Monsanto, and DuPont, have monopolized the seeds of creation. Therefore, do not allow small farmers to cultivate. With the guarantee of high patent protection in the TPP, the victims of the criminalization of seed cases will increase as a result of the enactment of TPP. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
6. Preserve the oppression of Labor
TPP countries want to prohibit regulators that protect workers, even do not want the process of transfer of knowledge and technology. This is done in order to ensure investor. In addition, the free flow of foreign workers to professional workforce is also becoming one of the agenda. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
7. Crush small businesses, medium enterprises and cooperatives
Elimination rates as low as possible to limit the product will facilitate the US and other industrialized nations entered, instead of the entry of goods Indonesia there. Moreover, a high standard of market access in the TPP will potentially eliminate the ability of small businesses to be able to enter the Indonesian market TPP countries. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
8. Enlarge the trade deficit
If Indonesia to join the TPP; elimination of tariff barriers will have a positive effect in improving trade performance, especially in the midst of the current global economic downturn. This is supported by data from Indonesia’s trade with the 12 countries members of the TPP, 80 percent of whom continue to experience the negative trends of the total trade. Indonesia’s trade balance continues to show a deficit, such as Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. In fact, there are some countries that show a trend of Indonesia’s trade with these partners throughout 2010-2014. It shows negative trends, such as the United States (-0.11 percent), Brunei (-9.42 percent), Chile (-6.86 percent), and Japan (2.57 percent). (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
9. Importing American laws
TPP rules about to adopt the entire US regulatory standards that have been promoted by the OECD as best practice in decision making. TPP requires the state conduct a review of regulation in order to assess its compliance with the rules of TPP. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
10. Weaken the country’s position when in the dispute with multinational corporations
TPP incorporate rules on dispute settlement mechanisms between investors and the state, known as the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). The inclusion of ISDS in TPP would enable Indonesia sued by investors worth trillions of dollars in international arbitration institutions as a result of replacing or changing its national regulations that are considered detrimental to the interests of foreign investors. This resulted in the lawsuit threat that took Indonesia as a hostage and is reluctant to make laws that protect people’s interests. (Analysis of INDONESIA FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE / IGJ)
11. Threaten freedom of expression, information and knowledge on the Internet
TPP will set the issue of copyright infringement in a repressive, including on the Internet.By setting repressive copyright on the Internet that could potentially threaten the freedom of expression, information and knowledge. During this time the internet users to easily share information and knowledge on the internet. By following the TPP ease of sharing information and knowledge on the Internet could potentially be lost. (Analysis of SatuDunia Foundation)