Asia Pacific Business Organisations Support TPP

September 9 2011

Asia Pacific Business Organisations Support TPP, Urge Concrete Progress by APEC in Honolulu

Business organisations from across the Asia Pacific region have expressed strong support for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations underway in Chicago.

"TPP has the potential to be an effective pathway towards a wider vision for a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) if it can deliver on its promise as a new generation agreement while addressing the needs of business as well as responding to the concerns of stakeholders" said Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director of the NZ US Council.

The business organisations - COMEXPERU (The Foreign Trade Association of Peru), Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), NZ US Council, Singapore Business Federation (SBF), U.S. Business Coalition for TPP, US Chamber of Commerce, US National Center for APEC and US NZ Council have called on negotiators meeting in Chicago to work towards agreement on a package of deliverables for announcement at the APEC meeting in Honolulu in November.

"TPP is a complex undertaking but after eight rounds of TPP negotiations it is clear that progress is being made. While substance should drive the negotiating agenda we believe the Honolulu APEC meeting should be used to reaffirm a number of key deliverables from TPP as well as clarify the timetable for the negotiation in 2012" said Calman Cohen, President of ECAT.

The business organisations are united in their belief that TPP should meet the following broad criteria:

• TPP should be a high quality, comprehensive agreement with no product exclusions and flexible rules of origin
• TPP should aim to eliminate border restrictions on trade in goods and services and investment no later than 2020, the deadline set for free and open trade and investment in the Bogor goals
• TPP should address creatively new generation and behind the border issues aimed at eliminating chokepoints in the operation of regional supply and value chains. These include issues of interest to small and medium-sized business, regulatory coherence and co-operation, measures to enhance and protect foreign direct investment and settle disputes, and measures aimed at promoting innovation and sustainable economic development.
• TPP should remain a living agreement open to accession by other economies from within the APEC region provided these economies share TPP's ambitious vision and can demonstrate their ability to accede to an agreement with the characteristics described above.

"All of us have issues we would like to see advanced in the negotiation. We will continue to advocate these to our own governments. We are all agreed on the overarching vision. We urge those economies interested in joining TPP to ensure they can meet the high expectations of TPP membership" said Stephen Jacobi.

The business organisations undertook to continue to follow the negotiations closely and to exchange views and information in the lead up to the November APEC meeting.

ENDS

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