TPP Mk II

While in Europe we were busy campaigning about TTIP and its ISDS clauses, the Obama administration were trying the same trick on their other coast, then called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump pulled out, but the remaining countries completed the treaty, now renamed, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership with a modified a more limited ISDS and intellectual property clauses. The British Govt. have applied to join to the applause of Lord Hannan, an ex MEP and so I think we need to understand the ISDS & IPR clauses, and the direction of travel. If the US decide to rejoin, they will probably seek to ‘improve’ the ISDS and IPR chapters. We should note it has a Commission. Here as ever are my notes.

In Spring of 2023, the Tory Government began to herald the signing of this agreement.

1. How valuable is the CPTPP for the UK reakky? , from the IOD, includes the statement, “We already have bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with seven of the eleven countries, and digital economy agreements with Singapore and Japan.” This is an on the one hand, and on the other article and references several government sites.
2. UK hopes to conclude deal with Pacific trade bloc this year at the FT; they didn’t!
3. Why joining CPTPP is the right choice – and would make it impossible for Labour to smuggle us into an EU customs union, by Greg Hands MP, Minister for Trade at Conservative Home.
4. UK poised to remove import tariffs on Malaysian palm oil, an example of the compromises we will have to make, a quote from Alex Wijeratna, senior director at deforestation campaign group Mighty Earth, who said: “The removal of tariffs on palm oil products from Malaysia without any environmental safeguards makes it very hard for the UK to call itself a climate leader committed to tackling deforestation and protecting precious habitats of endangered species.”
5. Evidence presented to the UK Parliament on ISDS by the Business and Human Resource Centre. They conclude, “The UK should not accede to the CPTPP trade agreement unless the concerns outlined above can be adequately addressed through negotiation with the 11 current signatories to the agreement in such a way that higher labour standards are included in the agreements and ISDS removed.”
6. Why joining the CPTPP is a smart move for the UK and Chatham House, two years ago.
7. The FT search on “cptpp” and google search on “isds+cpttp”.

These links were made when I made the article,

1. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, by Nishimura & Asahi at Lexology, This piece will focus on the most relevant provisions of CPTPP’s investment chapter and explain why it can be qualified as a modern investment agreement.
2. https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/in-force/cptpp/outcomes-documents/Pages/cptpp-investor-state-dispute-settlement
3. CPTPP’s Investment Chapter: Progressive or a mere reiteration?, a Bachelor’s dissertation essay by Toby Major, written for a degree issued by the U. of Wellington, in NZ.
4. TPP 11-ministers-agree-on-core-elements-of-the-comprehensive-and-progressive-agreement-for-trans-pacific-partnership-CPTPP on the 2017 treaty, which I think is the first one signed.
5. Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Wikipedia
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20190126060912/https://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/in-force/cptpp/news/Pages/news.aspx , the first commission meeting, by the Australian Govt.
7. https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/trade-cptpp, this talks about the commission and the arbitration process, but it remains unclear if the Commission is a standing committee that meets infrequently or an ad-hoc committee to which the Parties send representatives as they see fit, less of a committee, more of a Conference

An article by Nick Dearden on CPTPP

Who will really benefit from Britain’s tilt towards trade with Asia?

Here’s a map of current members,