[ Adam Behsudi| September 07, 2016 | Politico]
The list of groups coming out against the TPP as it currently stands continues to get longer, with two new organizations — Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America — writing letters to Congress on Tuesday urging lawmakers to state their opposition to the deal. Consumers Union is the advocacy branch of Consumer Reports, which has supported trade deals in the past. Consumer Federation of America is a coalition of 250 U.S. consumer organizations.
“While we recognize the benefits that can flow to consumers from international commerce, we are concerned that the TPP as currently negotiated would unduly risk undermining important safety, health, and other interests of consumers,” the letter reads.
In the letter — co-signed by Jean Halloran, the union’s director of food policy initiatives, and Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy for the federation — the groups said the TPP goes beyond previous trade pacts to allow parties to undermine regulations through the investor-state dispute settlement system, which they call a “fatal flaw” of the deal.
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