Outlines of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
On
November 12, 2011, the Leaders of the nine Trans-Pacific Partnership
countries – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States – announced the
achievement of the broad outlines of an ambitious, 21st-century
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that will enhance trade and
investment among the TPP partner countries, promote innovation, economic
growth and development, and support the creation and retention of jobs.
The agreement’s broad framework is as follows:
Key Features
In reporting to Leaders on the achievement of the broad outlines of an agreement, the Trade Ministers identified five defining features that will make TPP a landmark, 21st-century trade agreement, setting a new standard for global trade and incorporating next-generation issues that will boost the competitiveness of TPP countries in the global economy.
- Trans-Pacific Partnership Leaders Statement
- FACT SHEET: The United States in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Outlines of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
- 2013 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Ministers' Report to Leaders
- 2011 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Ministers’ Report to Leaders
- Remarks by President Barack Obama in Meeting with Trans-Pacific Partnership
ENHANCING TRADE AND INVESTMENT, SUPPORTING JOBS, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:
OUTLINES OF THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
On
November 12, 2011, the Leaders of the nine Trans-Pacific Partnership
countries – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States – announced the
achievement of the broad outlines of an ambitious, 21st-century
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that will enhance trade and
investment among the TPP partner countries, promote innovation, economic
growth and development, and support the creation and retention of jobs.OUTLINES OF THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
The agreement’s broad framework is as follows:
Key Features
In reporting to Leaders on the achievement of the broad outlines of an agreement, the Trade Ministers identified five defining features that will make TPP a landmark, 21st-century trade agreement, setting a new standard for global trade and incorporating next-generation issues that will boost the competitiveness of TPP countries in the global economy.
o
Comprehensive market access: to eliminate tariffs and other barriers to
goods and services trade and investment, so as to create new
opportunities for our workers and businesses and immediate benefits for
our consumers.
o Fully regional
agreement: to facilitate the development of production and supply chains
among TPP members, supporting our goal of creating jobs, raising living
standards, improving welfare and promoting sustainable growth in our
countries.
o Cross-cutting trade
issues: to build on work being done in APEC and other fora by
incorporating in TPP four new, cross-cutting issues. These are:
-
Regulatory coherence. Commitments will promote trade between the
countries by making trade among them more seamless and efficient.
-
Competitiveness and Business Facilitation. Commitments will enhance the
domestic and regional competitiveness of each TPP country’s economy and
promote economic integration and jobs in the region, including through
the development of regional production and supply chains.
-
Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Commitments will address concerns
small- and medium-sized enterprises have raised about the difficulty in
understanding and using trade agreements, encouraging small- and
medium-sized enterprises to trade internationally.
-
Development. Comprehensive and robust market liberalization,
improvements in trade and investment enhancing disciplines, and other
commitments, including a mechanism to help all TPP countries to
effectively implement the Agreement and fully realize its benefits, will
serve to strengthen institutions important for economic development and
governance and thereby contribute significantly to advancing TPP
countries’ respective economic development priorities.
o
New trade challenges: to promote trade and investment in innovative
products and services, including related to the digital economy and
green technologies, and to ensure a competitive business environment
across the TPP region.
o Living
agreement: to enable the updating of the agreement as appropriate to
address trade issues that emerge in the future as well as new issues
that arise with the expansion of the agreement to include new countries.
Scope
•
The agreement is being negotiated as a single undertaking that covers
all key trade and trade-related areas. In addition to updating
traditional approaches to issues covered by previous free trade
agreements (FTAs), the TPP includes new and emerging trade issues and
cross-cutting issues.
• More than
twenty negotiating groups have met over nine rounds to develop the legal
texts of the agreement and the specific market access commitments the
TPP countries will make to open their markets to each others’ goods,
services, and government procurement.
•
All of the nine countries also have agreed to adopt high standards in
order to ensure that the benefits and obligations of the agreement are
fully shared. They also have agreed on the need to appropriately address
sensitivities and the unique challenges faced by developing country
members, including through trade capacity building, technical
assistance, and staging of commitments as appropriate.
•
A set of new, cross-cutting commitments are intended to reduce costs,
enable the development of a more seamless trade flows and trade networks
between TPP members, encourage the participation of small- and
medium-sized enterprises in international trade, and promote economic
growth and higher living standards.
•
The negotiating teams have proposed new commitments on cross-cutting
issues in traditional chapters and also have made substantial progress
toward agreement on separate, stand-alone commitments to address these
issues.
Legal Texts
•
The negotiating groups have developed consolidated legal text in
virtually all negotiating groups. In some areas, text is almost
complete; in others, further work is needed to finalize text on specific
issues. The texts contain brackets to indicate where differences
remain.
• The legal texts will cover
all aspects of commercial relations among the TPP countries. The
following are the issues under negotiation and a summary of progress.
o
Competition. The competition text will promote a competitive business
environment, protect consumers, and ensure a level playing field for TPP
companies. Negotiators have made significant progress on the text,
which includes commitments on the establishment and maintenance of
competition laws and authorities, procedural fairness in competition law
enforcement, transparency, consumer protection, private rights of
action and technical cooperation.
o
Cooperation and Capacity Building. The TPP countries agree that capacity
building and other forms of cooperation are critical both during the
negotiations and post-conclusion to support TPP countries’ ability to
implement and take advantage of the agreement. They recognize that
capacity building activities can be an effective tool in helping to
address specific needs of developing countries in meeting the high
standards the TPP countries have agreed to seek. In this spirit, several
cooperation and capacity building activities have already been
implemented in response to specific requests and additional activities
are being planned to assist developing countries in achieving the
objectives of the agreement. The TPP countries also are discussing
specific text that will establish a demand-driven and flexible
institutional mechanism to effectively facilitate and cooperation and
capacity building assistance after the TPP is implemented.
o
Cross-Border Services. TPP countries have agreed on most of the core
elements of the cross-border services text. This consensus provides the
basis for securing fair, open, and transparent markets for services
trade, including services supplied electronically and by small- and
medium-sized enterprises, while preserving the right of governments to
regulate in the public interest.
o
Customs. TPP negotiators have reached agreement on key elements of the
customs text as well as on the fundamental importance of establishing
customs procedures that are predictable, transparent and that expedite
and facilitate trade, which will help link TPP firms into regional
production and supply chains. The text will ensure that goods are
released from customs control as quickly as possible, while preserving
the ability of customs authorities to strictly enforce customs laws and
regulations. TPP countries also have agreed on the importance of close
cooperation between authorities to ensure the effective implementation
and operation of the agreement as well as other customs matters.
o
E-Commerce. The e-commerce text will enhance the viability of the
digital economy by ensuring that impediments to both consumer and
businesses embracing this medium of trade are addressed. Negotiators
have made encouraging progress, including on provisions addressing
customs duties in the digital environment, authentication of electronic
transactions, and consumer protection. Additional proposals on
information flows and treatment of digital products are under
discussion.
o Environment. A
meaningful outcome on environment will ensure that the agreement
appropriately addresses important trade and environment challenges and
enhances the mutual supportiveness of trade and environment. The TPP
countries share the view that the environment text should include
effective provisions on trade-related issues that would help to
reinforce environmental protection and are discussing an effective
institutional arrangement to oversee implementation and a specific
cooperation framework for addressing capacity building needs. They also
are discussing proposals on new issues, such as marine fisheries and
other conservation issues, biodiversity, invasive alien species, climate
change, and environmental goods and services.
o
Financial Services. The text related to investment in financial
institutions and cross-border trade in financial services will improve
transparency, non-discrimination, fair treatment of new financial
services, and investment protections and an effective dispute settlement
remedy for those protections. These commitments will create
market-opening opportunities, benefit businesses and consumers of
financial products, and at the same time protect the right of financial
regulators to take action to ensure the integrity and stability of
financial markets, including in the event of a financial crisis.
o
Government Procurement. The text of the Government Procurement Chapter
will ensure that procurement covered under the chapter is conducted in a
fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner. The TPP negotiators
have agreed on the basic principles and procedures for conducting
procurement under the chapter, and are developing the specific
obligations. The TPP partners are seeking comparable coverage of
procurement by all the countries, while recognizing the need to
facilitate the opening of the procurement markets of developing
countries through the use of transitional measures.
o
Intellectual Property. TPP countries have agreed to reinforce and
develop existing World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) rights and obligations to
ensure an effective and balanced approach to intellectual property
rights among the TPP countries. Proposals are under discussion on many
forms of intellectual property, including trademarks, geographical
indications, copyright and related rights, patents, trade secrets, data
required for the approval of certain regulated products, as well as
intellectual property enforcement and genetic resources and traditional
knowledge. TPP countries have agreed to reflect in the text a shared
commitment to the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health.
o
Investment. The investment text will provide substantive legal
protections for investors and investments of each TPP country in the
other TPP countries, including ongoing negotiations on provisions to
ensure non-discrimination, a minimum standard of treatment, rules on
expropriation, and prohibitions on specified performance requirements
that distort trade and investment. The investment text will include
provisions for expeditious, fair, and transparent investor-State dispute
settlement subject to appropriate safeguards, with discussions
continuing on scope and coverage. The investment text will protect the
rights of the TPP countries to regulate in the public interest.
o
Labor. TPP countries are discussing elements for a labor chapter that
include commitments on labor rights protection and mechanisms to ensure
cooperation, coordination, and dialogue on labor issues of mutual
concern. They agree on the importance of coordination to address the
challenges of the 21st-century workforce through bilateral and regional
cooperation on workplace practices to enhance workers’ well-being and
employability, and to promote human capital development and
high-performance workplaces.
o Legal
Issues. TPP countries have made substantial progress on provisions
concerning the administration of the agreement, including clear and
effective rules for resolving disputes and are discussing some of the
specific issues relating to the process. TPP countries also have made
progress on exceptions from agreement obligations and on disciplines
addressing transparency in the development of laws, regulations, and
other rules. In addition, they are discussing proposals related to good
governance and to procedural fairness issues in specific areas.
o
Market Access for Goods. The TPP countries have agreed to establish
principles and obligations related to trade in goods for all TPP
countries that ensure that the market access that they provide to each
other is ambitious, balanced, and transparent. The text on trade in
goods addresses tariff elimination among the partners, including
significant commitments beyond the partners’ current WTO obligations, as
well as elimination of non-tariff measures that can serve as trade
barriers. The TPP partners are considering proposals related to import
and export licensing and remanufactured goods. Additional provisions
related to agricultural export competition and food security also are
under discussion.
o Rules of Origin.
TPP countries have agreed to seek a common set of rules of origin to
determine whether a product originates in the TPP region. They also have
agreed that TPP rules of origin will be objective, transparent and
predictable and are discussing approaches regarding the ability to
cumulate or use materials from within the free trade area in order to
make a claim that a product is originating. In addition, the TPP
countries are discussing the proposals for a system for verification of
preference claims that is simple, efficient and effective.
o
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS). To enhance animal and plant
health and food safety and facilitate trade among the TPP countries,
the nine countries have agreed to reinforce and build upon existing
rights and obligations under the World Trade Organization Agreement on
the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. The SPS text
will contain a series of new commitments on science, transparency,
regionalization, cooperation, and equivalence. In addition, negotiators
have agreed to consider a series of new bilateral and multilateral
cooperative proposals, including import checks and verification.
o
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). The TBT text will reinforce and
build upon existing rights and obligations under the World Trade
Organization Agreement on Technical Barriers, which will facilitate
trade among the TPP countries and help our regulators protect health,
safety, and the environment and achieve other legitimate policy
objectives. The text will include commitments on compliance periods,
conformity assessment procedures, international standards, institutional
mechanisms, and transparency. The TPP countries also are discussing
disciplines on conformity assessment procedures, regulatory cooperation,
trade facilitation, transparency, and other issues, as well as
proposals that have been tabled covering specific sectors.
o
Telecommunications. The telecommunications text will promote
competitive access for telecommunications providers in TPP markets,
which will benefit consumers and help businesses in TPP markets become
more competitive. In addition to broad agreement on the need for
reasonable network access for suppliers through interconnection and
access to physical facilities, TPP countries are close to consensus on a
broad range of provisions enhancing the transparency of the regulatory
process, and ensuring rights of appeal of decisions. Additional
proposals have been put forward on choice of technology and addressing
the high cost of international mobile roaming.
o
Temporary Entry. TPP countries have substantially concluded the general
provisions of the chapter, which are designed to promote transparency
and efficiency in the processing of applications for temporary entry,
and ongoing technical cooperation between TPP authorities. Specific
obligations related to individual categories of business person are
under discussion.
o Textiles and
Apparel. In addition to market access on textiles and apparel, the TPP
countries also are discussing a series of related disciplines, such as
customs cooperation and enforcement procedures, rules of origin and a
special safeguard.
o Trade Remedies.
TPP countries have agreed to affirm their WTO rights and obligations and
are considering new proposals, including obligations that would build
upon these existing rights and obligations in the areas of transparency
and procedural due process. Proposals also have been put forward
relating to a transitional regional safeguard mechanism.
Tariff Schedules and Other Market-Opening Packages
•
The TPP tariff schedule will cover all goods, representing some 11,000
tariff lines. The nine countries also are developing common TPP rules of
origin, and are weighing proposals now for how to do this most
effectively and simply.
• Services and
investment packages will cover all service sectors. To ensure the
high-standard outcome the nine countries are seeking, the TPP countries
are negotiating on a “negative list” basis, which presumes comprehensive
coverage but allows countries to negotiate specific exceptions to
commitments in specific service sectors.
•
Government procurement packages are being negotiated with each country
seeking to broaden coverage to ensure the maximum access to each others’
government procurement markets, while recognizing each others’
sensitivities.
Next Steps
•
Leaders of the nine TPP countries have instructed negotiators to meet
in early December, and at that time to schedule additional negotiating
rounds.
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