The
Free Trade Area of the Americas is intended as a successor to the
North American Free Trade Agreement and is still under negotiation. The current drafts would require, among other things, that member countries to subscribe to a large collection of
intellectual property agreements.
Some additional points about the FTAA:
- Privatization of essential public services like water, education, and health care.
- Corporate reductions of wages, environmental standards and economic insecurity.
- Corporate freedom to sue governments and weaken local, state and national laws that stand in the way of profits.
see also trade, international trade, trade blocks