National Nurses United

I t's safe to say that nurses around the world agree: Smoking is bad for your health and a critical public health issue. That's why it's incredibly disturbing to hear the story about what happened after Philip Morris International, the giant tobacco corporation, heard that the tiny African country of Togo was considering a plain packaging law for cigarettes, similar to what other countries have done. Instead of each tobacco brand's signature branding and colors, plain packaged cigarettes portray the horrible health effects of smoking by showing graphic photos of lung or oral cancer on the pack and have the brand name of the ciga- rette printed in plain lettering. According to a letter the comic news show host John Oliver obtained from Togo, Philip Morris recently threatened Togo with "an incalculable amount of international trade litigation" if it pro- ceeded with a plain packaging law. Togo, one of the 10 poorest coun- tries in the world, backed down. This is the not the first time Philip Morris has challenged govern- ments over their regulation of tobacco products. It previously sued Australia (and thankfully lost), as well as Uruguay. Other tobacco companies have also threatened similar legal action against the Solomon Islands and Namibia. Faced with the prospect of a lawsuit against an international conglomerate with annual net revenues of $80 billion, most countries back down. (Definitely check out Oliver's hilarious breakdown of Big Tobacco's actions on his HBO show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.) But this is absurd! you are thinking. How can companies legally impose their business interests over the public health laws of a sov- ereign nation? Turns out that they can, and do, under the authority of international trade agreements. Under these trade treaties, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), corpora- tions can challenge almost anything they feel interferes with their pursuit of profits, including environmental, labor, and health stan- dards and regulations. That's why National Nurses United registered nurses are up in arms over a new international trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that is being negotiated in secret between 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes the United States, and corporate lobbyists. Not even most members of Congress have access to the trade talks or provisions. Much of what we know comes from leaked TPP documents. Even worse, the Obama administration is pushing for the TPP to be "fast tracked" through Congress, which means that aspects of the agreement are not up for debate or amendment by our Congression- al representatives. Instead, the entire agreement may only be voted up or down, putting much pressure on Congress to simply rubber stamp the deal for fear of being labeled obstructionist to trade. NNU nurses have been publicly opposing both fast track and the TPP. In February, NNU registered nurses joined Rep. Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut in Washington, D.C. to hold a press conference denouncing the TPP and then visited various Congressional mem- bers to urge them to vote against any such deal. In early March, NNU nurses in California gathered in Sacramento to protest in front of the offices of Big Pharma's lobbyists and to likewise lobby Con- gressional representatives from that state to vote down the TPP. Like most free trade agreements, the TPP prioritizes the business interests of private international corporations above the health, safe- ty, and welfare of ordinary citizens. NNU RNs anticipate, based on the Philip Morris example, that wealthy corporations will simply use the TPP to weaken or totally circumvent many signatory nations' health and safety laws and practices, including limits to brand-name drug patents; the bulk purchasing by governments of prescription drugs; limits to pesticides, additives, and other contaminants in food; standards for environmental toxins in water, air, and food; and even safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios—the list goes on. Corporations could argue that these types of public health laws and regulations restrict their profits. In fact, of the nearly $14 billion in 15 legal claims now pending under NAFTA, all are related to pub- lic health and other public policies, not traditional trade disputes. These conflicts would not be resolved in the courts of countries with the higher standards, but instead through the Investor-State M A R C H 2 0 1 5 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 13

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