Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Pact Threatens Public Health

Two recent commentaries summarize the public health objections to the Trans Pacific Partnership, a new global trade pact now in its final stages of negotiation.  An editorial in the New York Times argued that “American trade officials need to toughen their stance when Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations resume. They should be siding with the public and those concerned about public health, not the makers of products known to be lethal and highly addictive.”  In an earlier Op Ed in the Times, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked “Why is Obama Caving on Tobacco?”. He wrote that “a deal that sells out our national commitment to public health, and forfeits our sovereign authority over our tobacco laws, does not merit the support of Mr. Obama; of the Senate, which would have to ratify it; or of the American people.”