TPP - Guam2015

TAMUNING, Guam -- A unified proposal on textile and apparel rules of origin by the United States, Mexico and Peru that was discussed at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating round here includes more stringent requirements for regional sourcing of so-called "gimped" yarn than the U.S. had previously proposed individually, according to informed sources. To the dismay of some TPP countries and apparel importers, the unified proposal backs away from the previous U.S. approach, which had allowed this stretchy type of...

TAMUNING, Guam -- A group of about 40 current and former lawmakers from Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Malaysia are urging their governments to resist allowing the United States to determine whether their respective national laws conform with a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal before it goes into force. In an open letter to political leaders of TPP countries sent May 12, the 37 signatories specifically take aim at a procedure known as "certification," under which the United States...

TAMUNING, Guam -- Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators meeting here debated the scope of a technical issue affecting drug patents known as the "Bolar exemption" and whether it should apply only to testing for drugs that will be sold domestically or also to pharmaceuticals that are intended for export. The exemption is essentially a safe harbor from patent infringement claims that permits generic pharmaceutical companies to conduct testing or clinical trials necessary to market a generic product, even before the patent...

TAMUNING, Guam -- Ministers from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries held a brief meeting on the morning of May 24 in the Philippines to review the status of the negotiations and chart a path forward, but did not set a date or location for the next TPP ministerial, according to informed sources. Also during the breakfast meeting, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman updated TPP ministers on the progress toward passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation in the United States. The...

TAMUNING, Guam -- Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators who met here for nearly two weeks pushed to advance areas of their discussions further than before, including in market access talks with Canada, but the round again demonstrated that resolution of many key issues hinges on U.S. passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). In an example of how the dynamic in Guam shifted compared with previous negotiating sessions, sources here said Canada appeared to become more engaged in talks on market access...

TAMUNING, Guam -- As talks on intellectual property (IP) protections for drugs in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) got underway here, sources on all sides of the debate said that U.S. and Mexican proposals for a development-based transition mechanism have ceded ground to the idea of using a fixed timeline. There appear to be at least two factors behind this dynamic. One is that TPP countries generally are coming to see it as more practical for the trade deal to contain...