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CPTPP


Building blocks laid for trade deal
What was achieved in the fourth round of negotiations, and why exactly a TPP would be good for New Zealand, remains a mystery – strictly controlled daily media briefings with Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry chief negotiator Mark Sinclair were short and impenetrable.
US group stands by intellectual property protection
An influential American business lobby, the US Chamber of Commerce, has hit out at New Zealand’s position on intellectual property rights in the TransPacific Partnership trade talks.
No guarantees for NZ policies in trade talks
The Government is offering no guarantees that New Zealand policies will not be changed to accommodate United States concerns in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.
Debate urged on TPP text
If the proposed nine-country Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is one "for the 21st century" as negotiators are calling it, its text should be open so New Zealanders can see what their Government is planning to agree to, say groups concerned about the talks in Auckland.
US eyes trade ’triple crown’ as APEC host
"The ’triple crown’ in 2011 is the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement passed and implemented, significant progress on the TransPacific Partnership and a very strong APEC year with a lot of concrete outcomes on trade and investment issues," said Kurt Tong, senior US official for APEC at the State Department.
TPP will not nix farm tariffs right away: former US Trade Rep
Japan’s joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership would not bring an immediate end to tariffs protecting domestic farmers, who would still be able to receive some kinds of government support, former US Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter tells The Nikkei.
Free trade talks open amid noisy protest
Negotiations to create a nine-nation free trade agreement opened in Auckland today in the face of noisy protests and a Green Party warning that New Zealand’s overseas investment regime was on the United States’ hit list.
Crowd protests at free trade talks
A noisy crowd gathered in Auckland this morning to voice opposition to a proposed trans-Pacific free trade agreement which they say will strip New Zealand of its strategic assets and open it up to rampant foreign investment.
Leaked NZ paper challenges past US FTA models in TPP negotiations
A confidential Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiating paper authored by New Zealand suggests that the trade pact’s patent and copyright provisions be no more stringent than existing global standards
Leaked NZ paper reveals rift with US on intellectual property in trade agreement
On the eve of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in Auckland, a leaked negotiating document has exposed a fundamental conflict between the US and New Zealand positions on intellectual property.
Japan not to send senior officials to upcoming Pacific FTA talks
Japan has given up the idea of sending senior officials to the upcoming round of negotiations for a US-backed multilateral trans-Pacific free trade agreement, to be held in New Zealand from Monday, a government official said Friday.
NZ: Protests planned for Monday against so-called “free trade” agreement
Global Peace and Justice Auckland is coordinating protest action in Auckland next week against negotiations for a proposed TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement).
TPP: Open Letter to the Prime Ministers of Australia and NZ
"The TPPA proposal is being sold as a new agreement for the 21st century. In fact, the US is effectively setting the terms for negotiations, based on a standard template that replicates the US North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model."
NGOs submit memo to govt, call for halt to FTAs
A group of NGOs representing the Anti-FTA Coalition gathered on Thursday, 3 Dec 2010 at the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry to hand over a memorandum addressed to the Minister to register their concerns over Malaysia’s plan to enter into negotiations with the EU (bilateral) as well as the US (via the Trans-Pacific Partnership) which will take place next week in Belgium and New Zealand, respectively.
Trans-Pacific Partnership for a cheaper bowl of beef and rice
The APEC summit in Yokohama was a key event by any standard. For many Japanese, however, one issue overshadowed all the rest, and it didn’t even take center stage: the Trans-Pacific Partnership, discussed by leaders of nine of the countries on the summit’s sidelines.
Farm reform panel eyed for FTAs
The Japanese government said Friday it will set up a task force to discuss agricultural reforms as it seeks out more free-trade agreements with other economies.
Asia is "not ready yet" for Trans-Pacific Partnership
The backlash from the Japanese farming lobby against the TPP is already looking savage and it seems safe to predict that this will prove to be the case elsewhere in Asia as negotiations on the TPP push on apace.
Canada taking a close look at joining new Asia-Pacific trade block
The Harper government is eyeing a new Asia-Pacific economic block — the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and may be willing to negotiate aspects of Canada’s supply management system for certain farm products in order to get in.
TPP could expedite farm reforms
Japan’s agriculture industry is in the spotlight as a result of the government’s interest in a US-backed trans-Pacific free-trade agreement that could scrap high tariffs on heavily protected products such as rice.
Hundreds decry ’unprincipled’ liberalization
Hundreds of people staged a rally Saturday in central Yokohama to voice their opposition to Japan and other Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum members taking steps to accelerate "unprincipled" trade liberalization, saying the measures would destroy people’s livelihoods and devastate farmers.