By the Research Department of Foreign Economic Relations, the DRC and compiled by Xu Hongqiang

Research Report No 174, 2013

Abstract:

By the end of July, 18 rounds of Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) negotiations have been held, with the number of countries involved in the negotiations increasing to 12. The TPP has become one of the most important regional economic partnership agreements in the Asia-Pacific region.

The TPP is comprised of 29 chapters, covering topics such as market access, openness of the service sector, trade barriers, inspection and quarantine, competition, e-commerce, environment, government procurement and transparency, intellectual property rights, labor rights, trade remedy measures, and dispute settlement.

Difficulties that lie in TPP negotiations appear in the following fields: opening of the agricultural products market, pharmaceutical patents, intellectual property, labor rights, environment, services and investment.

If member countries make compromises, negotiations are expected to finish before the end of 2013, with lower standards than expected. But negotiations may also lag behind schedule if no one compromises.