The eight members of the Trans Pacific Partnership began negotiations today in Melbourne, Australia. More than 200 delegates from the United States and Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam kicked off the negotiations in an opening plenary session. The countries reaffirmed their commitment to building a high quality, broad-based regional agreement. They also exchanged ideas on how to use the negotiations to build a new paradigm on trade and strengthen our strategic partnerships in the Asia Pacific region.
The teams began discussing the appropriate framework for the negotiations. The U.S. team shared initial input received from consultations with Congress and stakeholders on objectives for the TPP negotiations and discussed the input the other countries have received so far. Six negotiating groups met today, including rules of origin, agriculture, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, and legal and institutional issues.
Keep checking USTR.gov throughout the week for updates on the negotiations.
