It appears that the revised TPPA agreement (now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) may be signed in March after Canadian concerns have been satisfied.
From Radio New Zealand:
The revised Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is to be signed in March, the Trade Minister has confirmed.
Australia’s Trade Minister, Steve Ciobo, said the 11 nations, including New Zealand, are “finally at the finish line” following talks between officials in Tokyo.
Canada walked away from the 11-nation deal in November, but has since had several issues resolved.
Mr Ciobo said the pact would eliminate more than 98 percent of tariffs in the free-trade zone.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Trade, David Parker, has confirmed to RNZ that 8 March was the target for the signing.
Japan Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said trade ministers would attend a signing ceremony in Chile in March.
He said the new agreement would be an “engine to overcome protectionism”.
The TPP was going to include the United States before Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in one of his first acts as President.
The rebranded the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), covers nearly 500 million people and the 11 countries involved make up 14 percent of global economic activity, or about $US10 trillion.
How does the new agreement compare to the TPPA? Again from Radio New Zealand quoting Steven Jacobi:
He said it was a less problematic deal than the initial one.
“It suspends a number of the more problematic areas of TPP, particularly intellectual property provisions and some aspects of the investor state settlement that was very controversial in New Zealand.
“It’s taken the hard edge off TPP … in those areas.”
The new agreement will pose interesting issues for the Government, particularly if the changes are not sufficient to make the agreement acceptable to the Greens. Everything will depend on the detail.
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