跨太平洋夥伴協議（TPP）中輟對我國健康公衛領域政策之影響

Implications of the Death of the Trans-Pacific Partnership for Taiwan’s Public Health Sector Policy

2007年開始談判的跨太平洋夥伴協定（Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement，簡稱TPP）終於在2015年10月正式結束。此協定是截至目前為止最鉅型的「區域」自由貿易協定（regional free trade agreement），且被稱為「新世代」，「高品質」的自由貿易協定。我國朝野兩黨對於推動台灣加入TPP有著高度共識。不過TPP的發展卻在美國新總統就任之後產生了變化。本研究之目的在於探討台灣若加入TPP，可能會對本國的公衛健康領域產生何種衝擊以及美國放棄TPP之後，台美貿易關係發展又會如何影響我國之公衛健康領域。本研究涵蓋TPP協定內容中具潛在健康影響意涵的章節，從文本的法律面向來探討其對於我國健康公衛領域之影響。關於此議題，目前我國僅有個別零星之研究，尚無綜整且全面的探討，此外，受限於能力與資源，本研究僅進行摘要性的健康影響檢視。研究發現，加入TPP確實會對我國公衛領域產生衝擊；其次，美國雖自TPP抽身，並不表示它棄絕自由貿易，而是轉向雙邊貿易協商這對我方並非較佳的選擇，因為與美國一對一談判，我國的優勢並不多，且與TPP內容相似的議題例如智慧財產保護，動植物檢疫防疫、技術性貿易障礙等等，仍會一再出現；最後，無論是否加入TPP，我國仍須面對並思考如何兼顧經貿發展與保障人民健康此一課題。

After years of negotiation, 12 countries signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in October 2015. The TPP agreement was described as mega regional free trade agreement and promoted as a “high quality,” “new era” trade pact. Over the years, Taiwan showed its desire to join the TPP and lobbied for support from the US administration. However, newly-elected US president Donald Trump abandoned the agreement and shifted toward bilateral free trade. Taiwan was left with no choice but to focus on revitalizing its economic ties with the US. This paper examines the contents of the TPP to identify its implications for public health in Taiwan and explores the consequences for Taiwan of the US decision to withdraw from the TPP. The study finds that, firstly, the TPP would have a profound impact on the health sector in Taiwan. Secondly, the contents of the TPP agreement raised concerns about its impacts on public health and a bilateral free trade agreement would involve similar problems. Under the existing US-Taiwan bilateral trade relationship, the government of Taiwan has already constantly been pushed by the US on health-related issues, such as intellectual property rights for medicines and food safety standards. For Taiwan, the tension between trade and protecting citizens’ health will persist, with or without the TPP.