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Several industry groups have issued media releases reacting to Japan’s invitation to join the TPP negotiation. These industries have welcomed the participation of Japan, New Zealand’s fourth largest individual trading partner in the negotiations.
New Zealand Minister of Trade Tim Groser on Wednesday delivered a speech to the Japan National Press Club that covered the trade relationship between Japan and New Zealand, touched on the potential of TPP, and considered the place of the WTO in trade policy architecture
Japan has been welcomed into the TPP negotiation by the existing 11 participants. TPP ministers met in the margins of the APEC Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Surabaya, Indonesia and extended the invitation to Japan to join in the negotiation.
Round 17 of the TPP negotiations will take place in Lima, Peru from 15 – 24 May. Stakeholder activities will take place on 19 and 20 May and will include a number of events:
New Zealand has welcomed the 15 March announcement by Japanese Prime Minister Abe of Japan’s interest in joining the negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
Chief negotiators held a press conference on 13 March, marking the conclusion of Round 16 in Singapore. Chief negotiators reported that they had achieved the goal set for the round: to put the negotiations on an accelerated track toward conclusion of a next-generation, comprehensive agreement in the 2013 time frame envisioned by the 11 TPP Leaders.
The 16th round of TPP negotiations started in Singapore on Monday 4 March and runs till Wednesday 13 March.
Stakeholders are now able to make presentations during the stakeholder programme on 6 March at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Singapore. Presentations will occur between 9.30am and 3.30pm, with 15 minutes per presentation. The presentations will run in parallel with the market of tables event (9.30am to 1.30pm).
The Round 16 press conference with TPP Chief Negotiators will be held at the Grand Copthorne Hotel in Singapore on 14 February 2013.
Round 16 of the TPP negotiations will take place at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore, from 4-13 March 2013. Registration is now open for TPP stakeholders interested to participate in the stakeholder programme to be held on the 6th of March at the negotiating venue.
A constructive and busy Round 15 of TPP has just concluded in New Zealand, with further good progress made across the negotiation.
The New Zealand Delegation received a global petition from the organisation Avaaz on Saturday 8th December. Professor Jane Kelsey delivered the petition to the New Zealand Deputy Chief Negotiator and TPP Stakeholder Liaison outside the Sky City Convention Centre in Auckland. The petition was drawn to the attention of Chief Negotiators from all TPP countries.
The 11 economies negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) are all doing so because they see benefits in a regional free trade agreement.
A common element to any international trade process is the need to consider requests that negotiating partners raise. That is not to say that all proposals can be accommodated. In some cases they can’t, at least not without changes that take into account different policy perspectives.
There has been a lot of talk recently about the extent to which trade agreements limit sovereignty and restrict legitimate government activity, such as the protection of public health or the environment. This criticism has been levelled most strongly at a feature in some trade agreements known as “investor-State dispute settlement” (or ISDS).
An important aspect of any Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is the exceptions chapter. This chapter sets out a number of exceptions that allow countries to adopt or retain, in certain circumstances, policies measures that are inconsistent with the obligations under an FTA.
Trade Minister Tim Groser has issued a press release welcoming the start of Round 15 in Auckland next week.
Round 15 of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations will be hosted by New Zealand at the SkyCity Convention Centre in central Auckland over 3-12 December 2012.
Stakeholder registration for Round 15 of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations is now open. Round 15 will be hosted by New Zealand at the SkyCity Convention Centre in central Auckland from 3-12 December 2012.
Canada has formally joined the TPP negotiations, after the completion of domestic legal procedures by all nine current TPP members.
Mexico has formally become a TPP negotiating participant following the completion of the domestic consultation periods of the current nine TPP members.
As hosts of the next round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, New Zealand is pleased to announce SkyCity Convention Centre in downtown Auckland as the venue for Round 15 to be held over 3-12 December 2012.
New Zealand will host Round 15 of TPP negotiations over the period 3-12 December 2012 in Auckland.
The latest TPP negotiations in Leesburg, near Washington DC, saw the highest level of stakeholder participation in three rounds held in the United States this year.
TPP Leaders attending APEC 2012 meetings in Vladivostok have renewed their commitment to the negotiation’s shared goals and acknowledged progress made in the 10 months since their last gathering in Honolulu in November 2011.
Interested stakeholders can now register to be part of the stakeholder programme running alongside the 14th Round of TPP negotiations taking place in Leesburg, Virginia.
If a shirt is sewn in Fiji using fabric that was woven in China from New Zealand wool and to New Zealand design specifications, what is the origin of that shirt?
Host of the round United States Chief Negotiator Barbara Weisel has said TPP partners made “important progress” at the 13th round of negotiations in San Diego.
The New Zealand Herald has run a series of articles to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of TPP.
The TPP team has received several enquiries about investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the negotiations.
The stakeholder programme at the 13th round of TPP negotiations in San Diego has wrapped up with a reception hosted by the Fair Trade Community.
Trade Minister Tim Groser last week addressed the annual general meeting of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.
Current TPP participants have welcomed the addition of Canada as the eleventh negotiating partner.
Current TPP participants have welcomed the addition of Mexico as the tenth negotiating partner.
New Zealand has welcomed the announcement that Canada will join TPP.
New Zealand has welcomed the announcement that Mexico will join TPP. The announcement was made in a media statement issued by New Zealand on behalf of the current nine TPP members.
Trade Minister Tim Groser met his counterparts from the eight other TPP economies in the margins of the APEC meeting in Kazan, Russia.
Registration has opened for those stakeholders interested in attending the 13th Round of TPP negotiations taking place in San Diego from 2-10 July 2012.
Chief Negotiators described “better than expected” progress, including completion of the first chapter text, at the media conference closing Round 12 of Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations from 8-16 May in Dallas.
More than 300 stakeholders have participated in events organised by the US hosts at the 12th round of TPP negotiations in Dallas.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs joined other members of parliament, past and present, at the New Zealand United States Council’s 10th Anniversary Conference, which was themed around TPP.
The full stakeholder programme has been released for the 12th Round of TPP negotiations taking place in Dallas, Texas, from 8-18 May 2012.
Registration is now open for stakeholders interested in attending the 12th Round of TPP negotiations taking place in Dallas, Texas, from 8-18 May 2012.
New Zealand has been visited by representatives of three aspirant countries as part of the TPP membership process.
Australia’s Chief Negotiator for TPP said “further strong headway” was made toward concluding a next-generation free trade agreement during the 11th round of negotiations in Melbourne.
The programme of stakeholder events during the 11th round of TPP negotiations in Melbourne wrapped up on 7 March with a briefing from the nine Chief Negotiators.
Nineteen New Zealanders will take part in the series of stakeholder events during the 11th round of TPP negotiations in Melbourne starting on 1 March.
New Zealand business and two governments have provided submissions on the expressions of interest from Canada, Japan and Mexico to join TPP.
Interested stakeholders and media can now register for the 11th round of TPP negotiations to be held in Melbourne from 1 to 9 March 2012.
Several events for registered stakeholders will be held during the 11th round of TPP negotiations at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 1-9 March 2012.
The Canadian government at the end of December formally sought public submissions on the possible participation of Canada in the TPP negotiations.
In our final column for the year, we couldn’t resist highlighting that others share our hopes and dreams for the TPP negotiations.
Trade Minister Tim Groser has announced the appointment of Dr David Walker as New Zealand’s new Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Lead Negotiator.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed that Melbourne will be the venue for the next full round of TPP negotiations in early March.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is inviting submissions on the expressions of interest from Japan, Mexico and Canada in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
When TPP Leaders announced in Honolulu that their group of nine countries had reached the broad outlines of an agreement, they also said they had directed their negotiators to finalise the agreement in the coming year. The main business of the TPP mini-round held in Kuala Lumpur from 5 to 9 December was to follow up on this instruction.
The Economist has picked up on the TPP announcements made at the APEC Leaders’ Meeting.
Singapore and New Zealand are two small, open economies with a shared vision for regional economic integration.
Following its accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2007, Viet Nam has moved quickly to accelerate its integration into the regional and global economy. This has included its participation in the AANZFTA free trade agreement with New Zealand, Australia and the ASEAN nations.
During the Chicago round in September, TPP negotiators were asked about release of the letters setting out an understanding among TPP countries on the handling of negotiating texts and other documents exchanged in the course of the negotiations.
The current TPP membership accounts for a significant share of New Zealand’s trade - and the three countries signalling their interest in joining the negotiations would boost this even further.
Trade Minister Tim Groser has offered some reflections on the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation in the wake of recent announcements by TPP Leaders in Honolulu.
Our experience since the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relationship Trade Agreement (CER) was signed in 1983 highlights the significant gains to be made from a 21st century regional trading agreement. Like CER, TPP goes beyond removing issues at the border and to address the broader issues that influence closer integration between economies.
When Malaysia joined the TPP negotiations, it reaffirmed a commitment to trade liberalisation already evident in the Malaysia-New Zealand FTA, which entered into force in August 2010.
While negotiators were working on the details of the TPP agreement, business people also met in Lima to talk about the commercial opportunities the deal will provide.
Belying its small size, Brunei Darussalam has played an important role in New Zealand’s trade agenda. Brunei Darussalam has been an active participant in the TPP negotiations from the start.
According to reports out of Honolulu, Canada and Mexico have joined Japan in announcing their wish to become part of the TPP negotiation.
Businesses have responded positively to the announcement of the broad outlines of a TPP agreement. The Leaders from TPP economies made the announcement on the margins of the APEC meeting in Honolulu yesterday.
The big news from Honolulu today was the announcement by TPP Leaders of the broad outlines of an agreement. The announcement came at the end of a meeting of Leaders from the nine Trans-Pacific Partnership countries, hosted by US President Barack Obama. Deputy Prime Minister Hon Bill English represented New Zealand.
One of the big points of interest for TPP negotiators this week in Honolulu was the announcement by Japanese Prime Minister Noda that Japan would begin consultations with TPP countries with a view to joining the negotiation.
The ninth round of TPP negotiations in Lima achieved good progress and useful work across the negotiating agenda.
The ninth round of TPP negotiations has concluded in Lima, after nine days of what Peru’s Chief Negotiator described as “serious and intensive” discussions.
Chief negotiators for the nine TPP countries have provided a special briefing for all stakeholders registered for the ninth negotiating round in Lima, Peru.
The programme for the Stakeholders’ Forum to be held during the ninth TPP negotiating round in Lima has been released.
New Zealand’s TPP team is used to intensive preparations before each negotiating round, but for Lima we had an extra task - finding somewhere to watch the 2011 Rugby World Cup final.
The United States Congress has ratified outstanding free trade agreements between the US and Panama, Colombia, and Korea. All three received bipartisan support.
During the last TPP round in Chicago, US negotiators released a white paper on pharmaceuticals-related patent issues. Inside the negotiation, the US team also introduced their associated negotiating proposal on this set of issues.
Data protection for agricultural compounds will be examined as part of the intellectual property component of the TPP negotiations.
Embassies from Trans-Pacific Partnership countries based in Washington DC meet monthly to share information and coordinate joint activities in support of the TPP negotiations.
We have written to a United Nations Special Rapporteur in response to claims made about the potential healthcare impacts of the TPP negotiations.
Cooperation on environmental matters is a key plank in the relationship between New Zealand and Chile. It makes sense for us to cooperate in this area because both countries have a lot in common.
South America’s third largest country, Peru, has a population of 29.4 million, abundant natural resources and a booming economy.
The ninth TPP negotiating round will be held in Lima from 19-28 October 2011. As part of ongoing efforts by TPP participating countries to promote interactions with stakeholders, Peru will host a Stakeholders' Forum on the afternoon of 23 October.
New Zealand boasts an excellent record of innovation and the area of environmental technologies, or "clean-tech", is no exception. Part of making sure we get maximum value from our innovation is improving access to other markets for these goods and services.
The eighth round of TPP negotiations wrapped up in Chicago after 10 days of intensive discussions.The New Zealand team and our partners were focused on the twin goals of negotiating a high-quality, 21st-century TPP outcome and meeting TPP Ministers’ desire for the “broad outlines” of an agreement by APEC in November.
Providing a forum for stakeholders from industry and civil society to present views and discuss issues has become a standard feature of TPP negotiating rounds, and interest in Chicago was high.
Chief negotiators from the nine countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have delivered a briefing for stakeholders at the eighth negotiating round in Chicago.
Several media statements were released at the start of the eighth TPP negotiating round, which got underway in Chicago on 6 September 2011.
The full stakeholder programme that will take place in conjunction with the eighth TPP negotiating round in Chicago has been announced.
New Zealand’s biosecurity and food safety protection is supported by our pursuit of free trade agreements such as TPP.
In recent years, business models based on imports and exports of finished products have given way to the emergence of complex supply and value chains, where business processes often take place in multiple locations.
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Radio New Zealand has broadcast an item looking at different perspectives on TPP on its Insight programme.
Some comments have been made this week about genetically modified (GM) organisms and the TPP negotiations. Specifically, GE Free NZ expressed its concerns in a media statement entitled “Compromise of Biosecurity and Brand Too High a Price for TPP".
The trade agenda was a central theme of the 3rd Japan/New Zealand Partnership Forum in Tokyo, with particular focus on the TPP negotiation - both New Zealand's role in it and the debate around potential Japanese participation.
The Stakeholder Forum to be held during Round 8 of the TPP negotiation will take place on Saturday 10 September.
Prime Minister John Key and US President Barack Obama discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House.
Prime Minister John Key has talked about the significance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement during his official visit to Washington.
The next TPP negotiating round will be held in Chicago. The negotiating programme runs from 6 to 14 September 2011.
During the seventh round of TPP negotiations in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, NZRise organised a seminar for delegates from the intellectual property, information technology and telecommunications negotiating groups.
Government procurement generally refers to purchasing by government bodies from private-sector or third-party providers the goods and services that these bodies need to carry out their public service mission.
Trade Minister Tim Groser gave the keynote address this week to the third meeting of the Japan/New Zealand Partnership Forum in Tokyo.
There’s been a lot of talk about TPP being a “high quality, 21st century” agreement designed for, and relevant to, today’s globalised world. designed for, and relevant to, today’s globalised world. All TPP parties face a range of environmental challenges locally and globally, including climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and moving to more sustainable use of natural resources (including marine resources).
There have been calls from some quarters for greater transparency surrounding the TPP negotiations. A petition calling for this to happen was presented to the Opposition Spokesperson on Trade, Maryan Street, in April. A further public meeting on this theme is being held in Wellington this week.
New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission has been asked to examine the implications of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement for New Zealand’s international and domestic human rights obligations.
The seventh round of TPP negotiations took place in Ho Chi Minh City from 15 to 24 June, a month after TPP Trade Ministers met at the margins of the APEC meeting in Montana. At that meeting, Ministers had expressed their goal of reaching the broad outlines of an agreement by the time TPP Leaders meet at APEC in November, a goal we all kept firmly in mind during Round Seven.
There was a strong turnout for the TPP Stakeholder Forum in Viet Nam yesterday. Presentations ranged from business perspectives on specific commercial and regulatory issues through to NGO concerns about impacts on social policies.
Trade Minister Tim Groser gave a “stock take” of the political strategy behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations to a New Zealand Institute of International Affairs-organised event this week.
In recent weeks we have received a number of enquiries about New Zealand's Pharmaceutical Management Agency, or PHARMAC, and the TPP. Some of this interest has stemmed from a letter that 28 United States Senators sent to the US President in May.
Investment is one of the areas of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation that attracts the most interest. We have had questions and views on investment issues from a number of people since the negotiation was launched. Some people have views about the general value of investment rules in trade agreements.
Following on from our previous post, we have now received a programme for stakeholder presentations (PDF 25KB) on the afternoon of 19 June in Ho Chi Minh City. Due to the high level of interest from stakeholders, our Vietnamese hosts have made two rooms available, and a wide range of views will be represented throughout the afternoon.
We have recently responded to some questions from the Tertiary Education Union on education, government procurement and intellectual property issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation. Those questions and our answers are published here as they may be of wider interest:
Trade Ministers from countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation normally get together in the margins of APEC ministerial meetings.
Registration is now open for stakeholders wanting to be involved during the seventh round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, in June.
Following on from last year’s round of consultations with interested parties on intellectual property issues within the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation, the Ministry of Economic Development is undertaking a further round of targeted consultations next week.
The level of public interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership reflects the significance of the negotiation as a trade and foreign policy intiative.
The Singapore round of TPP negotiations, held in late March, showed that the talks are moving into a more intense phase. We have already briefed a number of interested groups here in Wellington, but for those we haven’t managed to talk to, we thought it would be useful to post a snapshot of the round.
Welcome to TPP Talk. This column will provide up-to-date information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation from the perspective of the New Zealand negotiating team.
