Comment
Trade and investment agreements: a call for evidence
Article Info
The Independent Panel on Global Governance for Health (the Panel), established for an initial period of 3 years, is a collaborative initiative between the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway and The Lancet, following the recommendations of The Lancet-University of Oslo Commission on Global Governance for Health, published on Feb 11, 2014.1
PanelMembers of the Independent Panel on Global Governance for Health
Desmond McNeill
(Chair), a political economist, is professor and Director of the
research school at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM)
at the University of Oslo.
Alicia Bárcena Ibarra
is the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean, and former Chef de Cabinet to the UN
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.
Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck
is a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's global economic
governance programme, and founder and Chair of the Board of Intellectual
Property Watch.
Sakiko Fukuda Parr is
professor of international affairs at the New School, New York, USA. She
was the lead author and director of the UNDP Development Reports
1995–2004.
Anand Grover is a designated
senior advocate practising in the Supreme Court of India, the Director
of Lawyers Collective, and former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to
health (2008–14).
Ted Schrecker, a
political scientist, is professor of global health policy at Durham
University, UK. He was selected based on a nomination by the People's
Health Movement.
David Stuckler is a
professor of political economy and sociology at the University of Oxford
and research fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine and Chatham House, UK.
The objective of the Panel
is to provide evidence, based on high quality, independent research and
analysis, which can be used to inform and guide political processes
that affect global health. The legitimacy and authority of the Panel are based on the independence and academic quality of its work.
The Panel
is supported by an Advisory Board, chaired by the former Chair of the
Commission, Ole Petter Ottersen (President of the University of Oslo).
Members of the Advisory Board and the Panel have been nominated by him, subject to approval by former members of the Commission. The topic to be addressed by the Panel each year is decided in agreement with the Advisory Board.
The Panel is preparing a report to be published in The Lancet
in 2015. The topic is “the implications for health and the social
determinants of health of trade and investment treaties, agreements, and
negotiation processes”.
International trade and
investment agreements can have major effects—both positive and
negative—on people's health and wellbeing. The effects can be broad, for
example on agriculture, the availability and safety of food, and
employment. Agreements can also affect health directly, for example
through rules that affect access to and availability of drugs, labelling
of food, or environmental regulation. A crucial issue is the effect of
trade and investment agreements on policy space—ie, the freedom, scope,
and mechanisms that governments have to choose, design, and implement
public policies to fulfil their aims. These agreements are formalised
and interpreted according to complex and technical legal procedures.
Powerful states and corporations exert a strong pressure on the outcome
because of the substantial resources they bring to the negotiating
table. As a result, affected communities and stakeholders might be
excluded from the process.
Panel
members share responsibility for writing the report, but will also draw
on contributions from other researchers and experts. The Panel
hereby invites submissions of evidence on this topic from all
interested parties, including those in academia, civil society,
business, administration, and the public.
We are
particularly interested to receive submissions on the following three
themes. First, the effects of trade and investment agreements, and
negotiation processes, on: environmental and workplace health, safety,
and labelling standards; increasing trade in unhealthy commodities (eg,
tobacco and ultra-processed foods); employment, livelihoods, and working
conditions in ways that affect health; and national policy space for
regulation in favour of public health, including domestic procurement
policies, research and development, and laws and practices relevant to
health. Second, we are interested in power imbalances: asymmetries in
negotiations of trade and investment agreements and their
interpretation; restricted stakeholder participation and
non-transparency; and so-called democratic deficits in trade and
investment policy making. The third theme of interest is pros and cons:
examples of ways in which the current international trade and investment
regime falls short of a theoretical ideal; and examples of ways in
which trade and investment agreements do, or could, improve people's
health and wellbeing.
Submissions can be in various
forms, ranging from peer-reviewed research papers to qualitative or
quantitative evidence on the implications for health and the social
determinants of health of trade and investment treaties, agreements, and
negotiation processes. We also welcome submissions such as descriptive
essays, personal stories, news and media articles, and visual items.
Submissions
should describe the context, methods, and processes involved in
gathering of evidence, and the specific wider global lessons learned.
Submissions can also include recommendations for action; these should be
as specific as possible, with respect to factors such as the identified
actors and processes. The submission deadline is April 30, 2015.
I declare no competing interests.
Reference
Ottersen, OP, Dasgupta, J, Blouin, C et al. The political origins of health inequity: prospects for change. Lancet. 2014;
383: 630–667
