On November 5, 2015, several of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) signatories posted the official texts of the TPP’s 30 chapters, annexes and tariff schedules. Several also posted the bilateral procedural documents (side texts, understandings and letter exchanges) that apply to them. The TPP text is still to undergo a process of legal review, translation and verification. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) is the Official Depositary and has the individual…
On October 5, 2015, the White House announced that Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, and Vietnam, agreed to the largest regional trade accord in history. The original negotiations were to end last week, but were extended over the weekend because agreement on the remaining issues appeared to be within reach. [Details will be available later. A Joint Ministerial press release was issued at a Press Conference…
On 2 October 2014, the Australian Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb, announced that he will host a three-day meeting of his counterparts from the 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) in Sydney from 25 October 2014. Ministers will work to progress negotiations with an eye to concluding the basic elements of the agreement before the end of the year. The Ministers will address key outstanding issues in the negotiations, including…
On or about June 2, 2014, the US Trade Representative (USTR) posted on its website a document entitled, Trans-Pacific Partnership: Summary of U.S. Objectives which describes the Administration’s goals and objectives for TPP, and presents the main elements of each chapter from the United States’ perspective. The document states in part: The Obama Administration is pursuing TPP to unlock opportunities for American manufacturers, workers, service providers, farmers, and ranchers – to support job creation and…