Trans-Pacific Partnership

On November 13, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will apply to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The TPP is a nine-member Asia-Pacific free-trade proposal being negotiated among the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Both Japan and Mexico have also expressed interest in joining the TPP. The free-trade pact, even without Mexico and Canada, would affect 600-million people in countries that produce $20-trillion in annual economic output.

The deal would reportedly eclipse the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in size and scope. The concerns that have been raised include: Canada’s supply management system is now on the negotiating table; common regulations and rules of origin will be discussed; intellectual-property protections being proposed for drugs would limit access to access to life-saving medicines; investor-state provisions would allow companies to sue governments over rules to protect the environment; government procurement would also be at risk.

Canada will meet bilaterally with all TPP participating countries, who will then decide whether or not to allow Canada into the negotiations.

The next round of TPP talks is scheduled for March 1-9 in Melbourne, Australia.

The nine countries now negotiating the TPP have agreed to complete the broad outlines of the free trade agreement by July 2012.

Key blogs

• TPP: Canada not expected a seat at table until September
• Australian government “will not move” on investor-state dispute process in Trans-Pacific Partnership
• NEWS: Harper pursue 'Trans-Pacific Partnership' free trade agreement
  
• Canada will need to join global opposition to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks
  
• NEWS: TPP could eclipse NAFTA
  
• Protests greet Trans-Pacific trade talks in Malaysia
  
• Canada peeping in on Trans-Pacific Partnership talks; investment reform urged by U.S. groups

Media

• MEDIA RELEASE: Council of Canadians objects to Canada's participation in Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, February 15, 2012

Resources

• Open letter from lawyers to the negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership urging the rejection of investor-state dispute settlement, May 8, 2012
• Submission to the federal government objecting to Canada’s entry into TPP free trade negotiations as part of a public consultation announced in December 2011 by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, February 14, 2012
• The Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement

Public Citizen resources:

• TPP & Public Access to Essential Services (Public Citizen fact sheet)
• TPP & Public Health (Public Citizen fact sheet)
• TPP & Environmental Protection (Public Citizen fact sheet)
• Key Elements of Damaging U.S. Trade Agreement Investment Rules that Must Not Be Replicated in the TPP Include (A joint recommendation from Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, Institute for Policy Studies, Public Citizen and Sierra Club)

Information

updated May 14, 2012