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Asia Pacific businesses urge TPP leaders to commit to conclusion of comprehensive, high-standard TPP in 2012 |
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Asia Pacific businesses urge TPP leaders to commit to conclusion of comprehensive, high-standard TPP
in 2012
November 10, 2011 - Business organisations from across the Asia Pacific region expressed strong
support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations and urged TPP
Leaders to reaffirm their countries' commitment to a comprehensive, highstandard
and ambitious TPP, with the goal of concluding negotiations in the first
half of 2012.
"TPP's promise as an economic growth catalyst and as a pathfinder to APEC's goal
of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) can be achieved with the strong
commitment and vision of the TPP Leaders meeting here in Honolulu," said
Calman Cohen, President of the Emergency Committee for American Trade
(ECAT). "As representatives of business organizations across the region, we urge
each of the TPP Leaders to recommit to achieving a comprehensive, next
generation agreement that will create concrete new economic opportunities for businesses and workers throughout all the TPP economies by eliminating
distortive barriers, reducing business costs and raising standards."
The business organisations -- ASIA PACIFIC Chamber of Commerce, COMEXPERU
(The Foreign Trade Association of Peru), Emergency Committee for American
Trade (ECAT), Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), NCAPEC, NZ US
Council, Singapore Business Federation (SBF), U.S. Business Coalition for TPP, U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, US NZ Council, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and
Industry -- call on the TPP Leaders meeting as part of the APEC Leaders' Summit
to not only announce the broad outlines of a comprehensive and high-standard
agreement this week, but also to set an ambitious timetable for completion of
these talks.
"To promote concrete new economic opportunities and sustainable economic
development, TPP economies should not only reaffirm their commitment to
achieve an ambitious and high-quality agreement that eliminates border and
behind-the-border barriers, they must commit to do so in a realistic time frame,"
said Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director of the NZ US Council. "For that reason, we
urge the TPP Leaders to set an ambitious schedule for negotiations with the aim
of concluding the agreement in the first half of 2012."
The business organisations reaffirmed their strong support for a TPP that is:
- 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 mediumsized
business participation in expanding trade, facilitating regulatory
coherence, and promoting and protecting innovation.
- Enforceable, with clear commitments, and strong and transparent state-tostate
and investor-to-state enforcement mechanisms.
- Living and 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.
"While recognizing the complexity of the work still ahead, we believe it is critical
for the TPP economies to move forward on these negotiations expeditiously to
help create much-needed economic opportunities for all of our economies as
soon as possible," said Garcia Miro of COMEXPERU.
Mr. Ho Meng Kit, CEO of the Singapore Business Federation said, "In a period
when uncertainty continues to surround the global economy, a positive outcome
at the TPP Leaders' meeting as part of the APEC Leaders' Summit this weekend
will instill tremendous confidence among the Asia-Pacific business community.
The TPP will address the needs of today's business practices of integrated supply
chains and create an environment to ensure continued opportunities for
sustained growth in the region."
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