TPP Ministers Give Guidance On SOE Exceptions, Discuss Other Rules Issues

SYDNEY -- Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) ministers during a three-day meeting here agreed on a set of general principles that will govern the exceptions countries will be allowed to take from rules designed to ensure governments do not provide advantages to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that compete with private firms, according to informed sources. SOE negotiators will now use those principles to further whittle down their lists of exceptions, which will be contained in annexes to the competition chapter. The SOE working...