Published 05 November 2015
We will follow up with more in-depth analysis later, but wanted to quickly alert our subscribers that the TPP agreement is out and publically available!
The full text, plus all associated schedules, is available through the following website.
New Zealand has always served as the official repository (keeper of documents) for the TPP. New Zealand went first in publishing the documents, followed rapidly by other TPP members.
Note that the TPP documents have to be read in two ways—1) the legal texts that describe the specific provisions and rules that all members have agreed to follow and 2) the country-specific commitments (if any) for each chapter.
If there are no specific annexes, it means the chapter applies to all (such as rules of origin).
As anticipated, the TPP includes commitments on: goods, rules of origin, textiles, trade facilitation and customs procedures, trade remedies, SPS (food and food safety), technical barriers to trade or TBT, investment, services, financial services, temporary entry of business persons, telecommunications, e-commerce, government procurement, competition policy, state owned enterprise rules, intellectual property, labor, environment, cooperation and capacity building, competitiveness and business facilitation, development, small and medium enterprises, regulatory coherence, transparency and anti-corruption, administration (but not, sadly, a Secretariat:( ), dispute settlement, exceptions, and final matters (including addition of new members in the future).
The documents published today are apparently still subject to potential minor changes, particularly in footnotes, to make sure the entire document is legally consistent. It is still being translated into French and Spanish. The English-language version, however, is the official document. All subsequent disputes will refer to the English language copy only.
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Author
Deborah Elms
Dr. Elms is Head of Trade Policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was the Executive Director and Founder of the Asian Trade Centre (ATC). She was also President of the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA) and the Board Director of the Asian Trade Centre Foundation (ATCF).
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