USTR Says First Days of Round 9 TPP Talks Covered Services, Origin, Etc.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued several updates from the ninth round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations currently taking place in Lima, Peru involving the U.S., Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
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Discussed Trade in Services, Rules of Origin, Technical Barriers to Trade
On October 22, negotiators discussed cross-border trade in services, rules of origin, legal issues, investment, the so-called “horizontal” issues, etc. On October 23, they discussed investment, horizontal issues, and technical barriers to trade. Negotiators also continued meeting on legal issues and rules of origins and heard presentations from at least 25 stakeholder groups from a wide range of industry and civil society groups.
U.S. Working to Advance Proposal for Access to Medicine in TPP Countries
The U.S. says it is also working to advance its proposal for access to medicine in TPP countries. According to USTR, the brand-new TEAM (Trade Enhancing Access to Medicines) approach for TPP would not only allow access to medicines, but drive such access in places where it's most needed through new, innovative policy ideas not seen in any previous trade agreement.
(USTR continues to state that negotiators are working to reach the broad outlines of an agreement by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Ministerial meeting in Honolulu in November.)