Press Release – Joint Press Release
Business representatives from four economies have met in Auckland to press for more
urgency in concluding the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations currently
underway.6 December 2012
Businesses in Australia, Canada, New
Zealand and United States call for urgent action to conclude
TPP in 2013
Business representatives from four
economies have met in Auckland to press for more urgency in
concluding the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations
currently underway.
“In September business
representatives from across the TPP member economies urged
governments to conclude an ambitious, comprehensive and high
standard outcome in 2013,” said Cal Cohen, President of
the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT) speaking
on behalf of the US Business Coalition for TPP.
“We are
glad this call has been taken on board and we express our
strong support for this goal. It is now time for negotiators
to tackle the more sensitive issues to ensure this deadline
can be met.”
“TPP has the capacity to change the way
business is done in the Asia Pacific region. This is what is
needed to grow economies and create jobs,” said Stephen
Jacobi, Executive Director of the NZ US Council and NZ
International Business Forum.
“We appreciate the task is
complex but we urge negotiators meeting in Auckland this
week to accelerate their efforts and narrow their
differences so the benefits of TPP can be brought forward at
a time of increasing economic difficulty.”
“Canada is
joining the TPP negotiations for the first time here in
Auckland and is determined to participate in a way that
builds consensus for a strong outcome,” said Kathleen
Sullivan, Executive Director of the Canadian Agri-food Trade
Alliance (CAFTA).
“Our immediate priorities are
addressing the proliferation of non-tariff barriers which
impede trade and issues like rules of origin that can
prevent trade occurring even when FTAs are put in place.
There is a lot at stake for Canada in TPP and we are glad to
be participating as one of eleven APEC
economies.”
“Australia has a lot to gain from a
successful outcome to TPP which can provide an opportunity
to reduce the complexity associated with the noodle bowl of
over-lapping and contradictory FTAs in the region,” said
Bryan Clark, Director, Trade and International
Affairs, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(ACCI).
“Simplification of the supply chain will
translate into reduced business costs and increase the time
in which products move around the region. That can only
advantage businesses and consumers and lead to better
economic outcomes for all member economies.”
Asia
Pacific business organisations have earlier reaffirmed their
view that a successful TPP will
be:
• Comprehensive – with no product
exclusions and with commercially meaningful and flexible
rules of origin.
• High quality – with strong
standards across all main areas, from transparency,
investment and government procurement to intellectual
property, e-commerce and sanitary and phytosanitary
measures.
• Ambitious – with the elimination of
tariffs and non-tariff barriers 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.
• Innovative – with concrete new
commitments on new generation and behind the border issues,
including eliminating chokepoints in the operation of
regional supply and value chains, fostering small and
medium-sized business participation in expanding trade,
facilitating regulatory coherence, and promoting and
protecting innovation.
• Enforceable – with
clear commitments, and strong and transparent state-to-state
and investor-to-state dispute settlement
mechanisms.
• A living agreement – open to
accession by other Asia-Pacific economies, provided these
economies share TPP’s ambitious vision and can demonstrate
their ability to accede to an agreement with the
characteristics described above.
Business representatives
from TPP member economies will join government negotiators
and other representatives of civil society at a Stakeholder
Forum in Auckland on 7
December.
ENDS
Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
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