[Ip-health] Korea agreement: CPATH public health report card --
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KOREAN TRADE AGREEMENT: THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH

May 30, 2007


The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS)
continues the practice of corporate hijacking
global trade negotiations to the benefit of
transnational drug and tobacco companies, and at
the expense of peopleÂs health. It threatens core
protections for public health, long under fire
from NAFTA's notorious Chapter 11.

Despite mounting calls for democratic
participation in trade policies relevant to
public health, labor and the environment, the
U.S. Trade Representative failed to involve its
own advisory committees, members of Congress, and
the public in negotiating key provisions of KORUS.


The agreement would:



Â·         Affect reimbursement rates for hospital
drugs covered by Medicare and drugs provided in community clinics in the U.S.



Â·         Raise drug prices in Korea. Many
Koreans already cannot afford life-saving drugs,
and the national health programÂs budget is strained.



Â·         Reverse recent tobacco controls in
Korea, where 67% of men smoke and cancer is the leading cause of death.



Â·         Subject water and sanitation services
to privatization and deregulation in the U.S. and Korea.



Â·         Strengthen NAFTA-style corporate rights
that encourage frivolous trade challenges against
public health protections, at a cost of millions of dollars to taxpayers.



ÂPublic health, Congress and the public at large
have a right to  a voice on these critical trade
policies before the ink is dry,Â according to Dr.
Ellen R. Shaffer, Co-Director of the Center for
Policy Analysis on Trade and Health
(CPATH).   Instead, the US Trade Representative
and the Bush Administration have championed a
corporate agenda which fails America and endangers our future health.



CPATHÂs ÂPublic Health Report Card on KORUS,Â
online at http://www.cpath.org/id29.html, details
how KORUS undermines Public Health Objectives for Global Trade:

1. Access to affordable medicines

2. Tobacco control

3.  Democratic participation by public health and transparency in trade policy

4.  Protect vital human services such as health
care, water supply and sanitation

5.  National, regional and local government
sovereignty to protect population health

6.  Sustainable economic development

7. Alcohol beverage control

Ellen R. Shaffer, PhD MPH, Co-Director
Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH)
98 Seal Rock Drive
San Francisco, CA 94121-1437

phone: 415-933-6204
email: ershaffer@cpath.org
mobile: 415-680-4603
www.cpath.org
fax: 415-831-4091
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