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Trade pact ‘would enhance shipping and airline powers’
[ June 3, 2015 // Chris ]Classified documents published on 3 June by Wikileaks on the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) included several measures that would enhance the power of shipping lines, air carriers and mulitmodal transport operators, says the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
ITF that the proposed agreement would enhance the bargaining power of major shipping lines over port services, while giving global port operators further consolidated power. It would also give multimodal transport operators “unfettered access to and rights to supply road, rail or inland waterways transport services” and “enable them to fast-track their goods through ports.”
TISA would, says ITF, also “create an aviation industry dominated by global giants whilst allowing flags of convenience to become an established practice in the global aviation market.”
The document (https://wikileaks.org/tisa) also considers freight forwarding and customs clearance services, among others.
TISA is currently under negotiation between 24 countries and groupisngs, including the EU and US, and aims at liberalising the worldwide trade of transport, as welll as services such as banking and health care. The negotiations have been criticised for their excessive secrecy.