The New Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement – Get Your Comments in by Jan. 25, 2010

The US intends to enter into negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement (TTP) which is a regional trade agreement between the US, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. In furtherance of developing negotiation objectives, the US Trade Representative's Office (USTR) is seeking comments, which must be made by January 25, 2010, as further detailed below.

As described by USTR to Congress on December 14, 2009, the motivation for entering into the TTP is with “the objective of shaping a high-standard, 21st century agreement with a membership and coverage that provides economically significant market access opportunities for America's workers farmers, ranchers, service providers, and small businesses.”

In addition to comments on the reduction or elimination of tariffs or non-tariff barriers on products of a TTP country, comments are also being sought regarding:

- General and product-specific negotiating objectives
- The economic effect of the removal of tariffs and reduction/removal of non-tariff barriers on goods traded in TTP countries on US producers and consumers
- An approach to tariff negotiations, including particular measures that should be addressed and the treatment of specific goods
- The adequacy of existing customs measures that ensure imported products originate in a TTP country

USTR further seeks comments on measures regarding, (a) rules of origin; (b) sanitary, phytosanitary and technical barriers to trade imposed by any of the TPP countries; (c) electronic commerce issues (d) intellectual property rights issues; (e) investment issues; (f) competition relation issues; (g) government procurement issues; (h) environmental issues, inc. protection and conservation; (i) labor issues, inc. worker's rights and protections; (j) approaches that would promote innovation and competitiveness; (k) encourage new technologies and emerging economic sectors; (l) increase the participation of small and medium sized businesses in trade; (m) support the development of efficient production and supply chains; (n) ways to use the agreement to facilitate trade and promote regulatory coherence; and, (o) cooperation throughout the the TPP region.

Keep in mind that comments may be submitted regarding any of these topics or any other areas that are of importance to the commenter. For example, if the implementation and oversight of laws regarding occupational safety and fair wages of workers in these countries are of concern to you, this is an opportunity to express this point to those who will be involved in the negotiation process.

The submission of comments may be done by sending in a hard copy or electronically at www.regulations.gov, or click here to go straight to the page where you may begin filling in the comment form. When making an electronic submission, though it is possible to fill in the "comments" field, the USTR prefers that submissions are provided in an attached document, in either MS Word or an Adobe Acrobat, i.e., a ".pdf" file, with all comments stated in that document, i.e., USTR does not want a separate cover letter also attached.

The comments are subject to strict rules which must be followed. They are:

1)Comments must be in English
2)The first page of the submission must state the “United States Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement”
3)Comments must be submitted on or by January 25, 2010
4)Submitted under docket: USTR-2009-0041 (when submitting electronically)

To see other comments submitted, click here. To date, there is only 1 comment that has been submitted which, not surprisingly, discusses how any new agreement will be injurious to US domestic manufacturers.

Questions/comments? Feel free to post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com