Update on Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations in New Zealand
12/06/2010 - 2:52pm
The fourth round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations opened today in Auckland, New Zealand. Negotiating groups from the United States and its TPP partners -- Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam -- began work on trade in goods, financial services, customs, labor, and intellectual property. They also discussed cross-cutting issues, including how to ensure that small- and medium-sized enterprises can take advantage of the TPP, promoting greater connectivity and the participation of U.S. firms in Asia-Pacific supply chains and enhancing the coherence of the regulatory systems of the TPP countries to make trade across the region more seamless.
More than 100 stakeholders from five countries traveled to Auckland to provide input directly to the negotiators on a wide range of issues. Today stakeholder presentations were made by representatives of business and NGOs on the development of supply chains, approaches to regulatory coherence, steps to improve access to transparency and access to trade information for SMEs, key issues related to trade in services, and challenges to creating a 21st-century trade agreement.
Update on Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations in New Zealand
12/08/2010 - 11:59am
TPP negotiations continued for a third day today in Auckland, New Zealand. Negotiating groups comprised of teams from the nine TPP partners are meeting throughout the week to discuss a range of trade and investment issues.
On Wednesday, working groups met to discuss intellectual property rights, investment, financial services, technical barriers to trade, telecommunications, e-commerce, and labor. Groups continued to make progress in the negotiations and advanced work toward text of the TPP agreement.
A broad range of stakeholders from TPP countries are also in Auckland and many are participating in panel discussions or making presentations on issues relevant to the TPP negotiations.
Earlier in the week, negotiators had an opportunity to exchange views with representatives of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. Wednesday included a full day of stakeholder presentations, including many relating to the new cross-cutting issues under consideration as part of the TPP agreement. A representative from the United States Chamber of Commerce presented views on regulatory coherence on a panel with private sector representatives from Australia and New Zealand. Stakeholders also presented on several intellectual property rights topics relevant to the ongoing TPP negotiations.
The U. S. business community in Auckland hosted the U.S. delegation at an event to discuss the TPP, giving the negotiating team an opportunity to hear the views of a wide range of U.S. companies operating in New Zealand and around the Asia Pacific.
To learn more about TPP, visit www.ustr.gov/tpp.
