2 AUGUST 2010: Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Seri Mustapa Mohamed has affirmed that Malaysia is keen and willing to join TPP negotiations, but must wait on the assent of the current membership before proceeding.

He indicated that the Malaysian Cabinet gave the mandate to pursue joining the agreement a fortnight ago, and that Malaysia will be willing to review previously sensitive areas such as procurement and services.

5 JULY 2010: Inside US Trade has reported that TPP negotiators will meet in Peru in August to attempt to sort out the architecture of market access schedules. The market access structure will apply to goods, textiles, and agriculture. However, all parties have now agreed to have one set of rules on services, investment, sanitary and phytosanitary rules, technical barriers to trade, government procurement, and IP rules.

Officials have also clarified that previous FTAs within the TPP membership will co-exist alongside any new TPP arrangement. This means that if the TPP were to contain higher standard or more demanding requirements, this would be implemented while existing obligations would be maintained. There will be specific negotiations where an existing FTA and a TPP come into direct conflict.

Ahead of the third round of formal negotiations in October, at which parties are hoping to table draft chapters of the TPP text itself, a source has suggested that some topics, including government procurement and rules of origin, may have specific elements tailored to assist small-to-medium sized enterprises. Making the agreement of more value to these enterprises was one of the main focuses of the San Francisco meeting last month.

3 MAY 2010: Malaysian National News Agency Bernama reports that the government, via its Finance Ministry, is considering changing its government procurement laws to allow foreign companies to participate in contracts. Currently in several key contracts the government does not allow the participation of foreign suppliers, as Malaysia is policy bound to support local entrepreneurs. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed says relaxing procurement laws is one of three criteria Malaysia must meet to join the trade pact, along with the introduction of a clear competition policy and reform of labour laws.

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 2010 -- Malaysia stands to gain from joining the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) quickly as it will be well placed to negotiate better deals to boost trade volume and increase market access into the American market, outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia James Keith said on Monday.

Expecting Malaysia to come on board soon, Keith said the TPP, comprising eight countries, would be a high quality platform to increase market access and boost trade flows for all member countries.