Wikileaks has released secret documents from the ongoing Trade In Services Agreement (TISA) negotiations, the site announced on Wednesday.
TISA, a trade agreement being negotiated between 24 parties, including the United States, the European Union, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Pakistan and Taiwan, is considered controversial because of the possible impact it could have domestically in those countries on jobs and civil liberties.
WikiLeaks reveals new trade secrets #TPP #TTIP #TISA http://t.co/qpcrtBcJxN https://t.co/mpLZQuBVYq pic.twitter.com/H4qxyam5oH— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 3, 2015
According to Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, TISA negotiations began in 2013. The agreement aims to support service "liberalisation" in the areas of financial services, telecommunications and education services, among others. "Services" amount to almost 80% of the U.S. and EU economies, WikiLeaks wrote in a press release.
The 17 TISA documents published by WikiLeaks include drafts on topics from air traffic and maritime issues, to professional services and e-commerce.
On Twitter, WikiLeaks called TISA "the TPP's big brother," referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is another disputed free trade deal being worked out secretly between 12 countries, including the U.S., Japan and Malaysia. WikiLeaks has released drafts of the TPP in the past, and is raising a $100,000 reward for the missing chapters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.
RELEASE: TISA secret draft covering 2/3rds of global GDP - the #TPP's big brother https://t.co/mpLZQuBVYq #TTIP pic.twitter.com/4ignazMno2— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 3, 2015
In May, WikiLeaks released more than half a million U.S. diplomatic cables from 1978, in a dump it called the "Carter Cables II." Coming from the Jimmy Carter administration era, the documents contained discussions about nuclear negotiations, conflicts in Palestine, Lebanon, Cambodia and Eritrea and the Iranian revolution.