The United States are adopting bully tactics against countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations in a bid to finalise the deal before the ministerial meeting in Singapore from Dec 7 to 10, a globalisation expert warned.

In a press release, Prof Elizabeth Jane Kelsey, professor of law and expert in free trade and corporate-led globalisation at Auckland University, said the bully tactics were clearly seen during the recent meeting on intellectual property and health in Salt Lake City, United States.

"The US has adopted a strategy of exhaustion in its bullying of negotiators on the crucial intellectual property chapter to force countries to trade away health in the TPPA negotiations in Salt Lake City.

"This is an early warning of extreme bullying that can be expected when the the trade ministers seek to close the deal off in December," she said.

Stacked in US' favour

The negotiation on intellectual property and medicine were chaired by Assistant US Trade Representative for Intellectual property and Innovation Stan McCoy and had ill-treated other negotiators during the talk, claimed Kelsey.

"McCoy had acted as a gatekeeper, deciding what proposals from other countries are allowed into the text and what are not.

"McCoy sets the agenda and timetable... The negotiations on medicines have been extended beyond the dates that were scheduled before negotiators came," she said.

This has led to some negotiators from poorer countries leaving before talks were concluded because they could not afford an extended stay, said Kelsey.

She added that the US had around 20 people who could negotiate on rotation while some countries only had one delegate for the crucial talks on intellectual property rights concerning medicines.

The TPPA agreement involved 13 countries and Malaysia being one of the members. However, critics are against the clandestine nature of the TPPA negotiations and a coalition known as Bantah TPPA has been set up to dissuade Putrajaya from inking the deal.