To answer your question, the T-Pee-Pee sets up rules on how to conduct trade between countries which a tribunal rules on. If a corporation or business thinks their profits were reduced because a country has given another corporation or business preference, they can file a complaint with the tribunal.
One of the proposed rules in this agreement is that local businesses can NOT be given preference over foreign or international businesses. Most Farmer's Markets give preference to local farmers. In fact the only markets I visit require the vendor or farmer to grow or make everything he sells. A farmer or vendor cannot buy California tomatoes and turn around a sell them in TN, or buy Japanese toys and sell them at our local markets. In fact the state promotes Pick Tennessee to encourage sales from the state.
But this gives preference to local grown and made products and cuts out large international corporations. Any large agribusiness could file a complaint against local farmer's markets with the tribunal. Then the tribunal would rule on if the corporation lost profits because of these government supported markets. There are no restrictions on how much profit a corporation has to lose or even if they actually lost any profits. If it can be shown that a corporation theoretically can lose some profit, the Tribunal can levy large fines on the state or nation that is giving preference to local businesses.
One poster laughed and said agribusinesses and large corporations would not be interested in Farmer's Markets because profits aren't large enough. But if you look around the country and see how rapidly farmer's markets are growing and consider the total profits of Farmer's markets for an entire state or nation those profits can be substantial.
Maybe corporations will ignore farmer's markets for awhile, but eventually they will sit up and notice. If T-Pee-Pee is implemented, the corporation will have the legal tools necessary to destroy farmer's markets. This will put a lot of local farmers out of business.
Oh by the way, in TN if you sell produce from off the farm, there are no taxes on it. I'm sure this tax exemption would be challenged under T-Pee-Pee.
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