"The side room": Mexico's group of lobbyists with special access to the secret TPP

In its report (in spanish only) from the 15th round of negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in New Zealand, the Ministry of Economy of Mexico (SE) boasted about the special treatment given to an obscure group of lobbyists. The SE refers to this group as "the side room":

"Additionally,  the "side room" attended (the negotiations), formed by representatives from the mexican industry (...). Close communication was held at all times with the intention of keeping them timely informed so they were able to give feedback to the process of negotiation.

In this regard, the Ministry of Economy will continue to work, with other Federal Government agancies and with mexican industries, to continue defending the positions and interests of Mexico in the next round of negotiations (...)" 

It's not the first time the Government makes reference to the "side room". In its report (in spanish) to Senate on the initiation of negotiations, the SE made a reference, and other bloggers have reported on other meetings between the government and the mexican industry elite.

¿Who are these people in "the side room"? In trying to respond to that question i formulated an access to information request to the SE. Here the response in full (in spanish only) and here a summary:

1. The "side room" is a "group of experts from the private sector that accompany the mexican government group of negotiators".
2. The "experts" of the "side room" are selected by the COECE (Coordinator of Business Organizations of Foreign Trade) which is derived from the CCE (Business Council) and CONCAMIN (Confederation of Industrial Chambers) [powerful private business interest organizations].
3. Through the "side room" the SE "shares information with the national private sector, including the interests and sensibilities, as well as the information generated during the negotiations".
4. The name of the persons part of the "side room" is considered by the SE as "confidential information".
5. The members of the "side room" are decided by COECE.
6. The "side room" has "access to information regarding the current state of negotiations" but "the text [of the TPP] is not distributed to the private sector".
7. The "side room" has access to the "key technical details" being negotiated by the Mexican Government in order to "ask, if necessary, for the support of the group of experts from COECE, in the best interests of our country" [of course]
8. There are no confidentiality agreements, but the SE considers "the technical information shared with the "side room" as reserved". [reserved for everyone, except the "experts from the private sector" of course.
9. The opinions of the "side room" help "define the position of the delegation of the Mexican Government".
10. 23 public officials attended the 15th round of negotiations. The cost of the trip is unknown due to "comprobation procedures". But the names, positions and the cost of their airfare can be consulted in the full response. 

Perhaps one of the must shocking confessions by the government, is the recognition of "privileged information" being "shared" with industry representatives and at the same time being withheld from the public, and even from members of congress.

The Mexican Government seems to accept, quite cynically, that there exists two tiers of citizens. A first class composed by the industry elite and foreign interest lobbyists, and "second class citizens", such as the public interest groups that were shut out of the 15th round of negotiations and were prevented from raising the fundamental public interest concerns.

Even the members of the Senate seem to be considered by the Mexican Government as part of this "second class" tier. Take Senator Rios Piter (Member of the Commission on Foreign Trade), who after meetings with entertainment industry lobbyists and the Foreign Relations Minister tweeted his a priori support for the TPP however, a few tweets later and after being questioned by concerned citizens, had to recognize that he doesn't know the text or the technical aspects of the TPP.

Como secretario de la Comisión de Comercio y Fomento Industrial, estoy muy interesado en que México tenga un nuevo liderazgo en el #TPP
— Armando Ríos Piter (@RiosPiterJaguar) enero 17, 2013

@postacta @apisanty @omondra no conozco el texto, pero dada la dinámica del comercio intl puede ser una oportunidad para el sur del país
— Armando Ríos Piter (@RiosPiterJaguar) enero 17, 2013

Another example is Senator Mendoza, who denounced the vague and opaque manner in which the government has responded to the Senate efforts to question the TPP process of negotiations.

La respuesta d la Secretaría d Economía al Punto de Acuerdo relativo TPP resulta absolutamente omisa,no da respuesta a los cuestionamientos
— Iris Vianey Mendoza(@irismmendoza) January 10, 2013

This discriminatory treatment of citizens is, besides being illegal (the government cannot treat information as confidential for some citizens and public for other citizens), contrary to the democratic principles and to the public interest.  It is imperative that the Government opens the internal process so all the voices are heard, specially those of the public interest groups who have been excluded. Furthermore, the Mexican government must demand the other parties in the negotiation a transparent and participatory process of negotiation.

The Mexican Senate must assume a key role pursuing these demands. Only with an open, transparent and public discussion it will be possible for the Mexican society to evaluate if the TPP is in accordance with the public interest  or not.