What's More Important? A Trade Deal Or Stopping Human Trafficking?

The U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries have been negotiating a massive trade deal known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).  Because all the talks have been secret little is known about the accommodation reached between these nations that would allow for a freer flow of goods and services.  One thing that is known:  Those labeled as Tier 3 countries by the U.S. State Department would exclude them from the TPP.   Countries like Malaysia and Thailand given their records on human trafficking would under the criteria used to assign Tier 3 would be excluded.

Reuters is reporting that interference from senior political staff at the State Department was able to force changes in the report which upgraded Malaysia and Thailand from Tier 3 status countries to Tier 2 Watch List even though both countries have abysmal records dealing with human trafficking.

In all, analysts in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons - or J/TIP, as it’s known within the U.S. government — disagreed with U.S. diplomatic bureaus on ratings for 17 countries, the sources said.
The analysts, who are specialists in assessing efforts to combat modern slavery - such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labor or prostitution - won only three of those disputes, the worst ratio in the 15-year history of the unit, according to the sources.
As a result, not only Malaysia, Cuba and China, but countries such as India, Uzbekistan and Mexico, wound up with better grades than the State Department’s human-rights experts wanted to give them, the sources said

 



From Last Years Report:
Tier 3

Algeria
Central African Republic
Congo, Democratic Rep. Of
Cuba
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
The Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Iran
Korea, North
Kuwait
Libya
Malaysia*
Mauritania
Papua New Guinea
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Thailand*
Uzbekistan
Venezuela*
Yemen
Zimbabwe

Notice that both Malaysia and Thailand were given Tier 3 status which under the TPP guidelines would exclude them from participation yet in this years report their status is upgraded to Tier 2.

Outcry as Malaysia's human trafficking record brings praise from US

The United States is upgrading Malaysia from the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking centres, US sources said on Wednesday, a move that could smooth the way for an ambitious US-led free-trade deal with the south-east Asian nation and 11 other countries.
The upgrade to so-called “tier two watch list” status removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama’s signature global trade deal.
A provision in a related trade bill passed by Congress last month barred from fast-tracked trade deals Malaysia and other countries that earn the worst US human trafficking ranking in the eyes of the US State Department.