TPP negotiating parties conducted a mini-round in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 5 - 9 December. Only a small number of negotiating groups met during the week, these groups included rules of origin, services, investment and intellectual property. The teams negotiating market access on industrial goods, agricultural and textiles also met. All made further progress in narrowing gaps on issues in the legal texts and negotiation of market access arrangements.

The nine parties convened in Malaysia following a meeting of TPP Leaders in Honolulu in mid-November. In Honolulu Leaders' announced that agreement on the broad outlines of the TPP had been reached and endorsed the report that had been received from TPP trade ministers, including a commitment to a comprehensive, ambitious FTA which eliminates tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment.

Leaders instructed officials move forward to conclude the TPP agreement as rapidly as possible. In order to meet this goal, in Kuala Lumpur chief negotiators met to discuss a roadmap for concluding the agreement. Parties are now working together to develop detailed plans for concluding negotiations in each of the 20+ negotiating groups, including intersessional work required.

Negotiations in 2012

Australia has offered to host the next full negotiating round in early March 2012 in Melbourne and planning is currently underway. As with past practice at previous negotiating rounds, there will be opportunities for stakeholders to engage with negotiators at several events during the round. We will provide further information on this website and through email updates when plans are confirmed. If you do not currently receive email updates and would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact us at tpp@dfat.gov.au.

Membership

Japan, Canada and Mexico have formally expressed interest in joining the TPP negotiations. Australia and other TPP countries have welcomed this interest and will now begin by undertaking a bilateral process with these countries to discuss their readiness to join, and their capacity to maintain both the ambition and pace of the negotiations. This is the same process that each TPP country undertook when they sought to join the TPP, with final decisions taken by a consensus of all current TPP parties.

To assist in this process we would welcome further submissions and comments from stakeholders considering Japan, Canada and Mexico's possible involvement in the TPP. Submissions can be made by email to tpp@dfat.gov.au. Please note all submissions will be made publicly available on the DFAT website unless the author specifies otherwise.