Various bits of the TiSA (Trade in Services Agreement, yet another multilateral trade treaty) were leaked recently. On the very first page of General Provisions:
[CH propose; AU/CA/CL/TW/CO/EU/IL/JP/MX/NZ/PE oppose; MU/PK considering:
Without prejudice to the policy objectives and legislation of the Parties in areas such as the protection of intellectual property, the protection of privacy and of the confidentiality of personal and commercial data, the protection of consumers and the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions (including through public funding and assistance) and fiscal measures.]
So the Swiss said “Hey, wouldn’t it be good if we had a thing at the start that said that this treaty doesn’t stop governments protecting privacy, the confidentiality of data, consumer rights, cultural diversity or other important things like that? Wouldn’t that be neat?”
And Australia, Canada, Chile, Taiwan, Colombia, the EU, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Peru all said “Er, no. We want this agreement to be capable of preventing us from protecting those things, thanks. Where it speaks, it should be more important than the domestic law enacted by your elected representatives.”
Seems like that tells you a lot of what you need to know about the way such treaties are assembled. At least Mauritius and Pakistan are still thinking about it… Sheesh.