12 countries sign far-reaching Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an international trade agreement between 12 countries connected by the Pacific Ocean, was signed yesterday in New Zealand, report The Straits Times.

The far-reaching agreement has been built up as promoting economic growth and enhancing innovation and and competitiveness in the member nations. The signatories are the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. The reduction of trade tariffs and expedited customs procedures are expected to be beneficial particularly to smaller businesses.

However, it has also proved equally if not more controversial both due to its content and the way it was negotiated. Critics have noted concerns over the opaque nature of the negotiations, details of which only reached the public through various leaked documents.

The TPP is viewed as a way for the US to get one over China as the dominant trading power in Asia.

Several parties have also criticized the content of the TPP. They say it includes provisions for forcing US-centric copyright restrictions to member nations, possible price hikes for medicines due to patent extensions, and international tribunals of questionable authority that allow corporations to sue governments when those governments legislate against said corporations’ interests.

Two days ago, Wikipedia weighed in on the risks to the distribution of information online and the danger to the public domain the TPP poses.

Various protests have also taken place against the agreement, including yesterday in Auckland, outside the venue where the signing took place.

The TPP is also viewed as a way for the US to get one over China as the dominant trading power in the Asia-Pacific region. China is not part of the partnership at the moment. “TPP allows America – and not countries like China – to write the rules of the road in the 21st century, which is especially important in a region as dynamic as the Asia-Pacific,” said US president Barack Obama in a statement.

With the agreement falling in place, each signatory has two years in which to push it terms of as legislation through their respective legislative bodies.

That’s not to say the process is done, though. For the agreement to come into force, at least six signatory countries must ratify it during those two years.

Source: AsiaOne/The Straits Times