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Australia's participation in Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Negotiations

Overview

On 20 November 2008 in the margins of the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Lima, Peru, the Trade Minister, Mr Crean, announced that Australia will participate in negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).  The TPP will expand on the current Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement between Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, which entered into force in 2006.  The United States and Peru will also join the TPP negotiation.

Australia's decision to participate in the TPP was taken in the context of an initial public consultation process.  On 3 October 2008, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, via its website, called for public submissions from interested stakeholders on the expected costs and benefits of participation and specifically invited comment on the economic, regional, social, cultural, regulatory and environmental impacts expected to arise from Australia's participation. 

Overall, there was widespread interest in and support for Australia's participation in the TPP.  Input received through the consultation process is being used to inform the Government's priorities and objectives for Australia's initial work on the TPP.  The Government is committed to ongoing consultations with stakeholders throughout negotiations on the TPP.

Public submissions

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to welcome public submissions and comments on Australia's participation in TPP negotiations.  Submissions may be emailed to tpp@dfat.gov.au or posted to:

Trade Commitments Branch
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
R.G. Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
Barton  ACT  0221

All submissions will be made publicly available on the DFAT website unless the author specifies otherwise.

Submission Texts

Submissions have been received from a wide range of interested parties including industry, business, community and labour representatives and government agencies.

Organisations Listed

Some organisations/entities have provided permission to be listed publicly as having made a submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Australia's participation in the TPP.

Where an organisation/entity has agreed to have their submission made available, a link to the text of their submission appears next to their name.

Copyright and Content

Copyright in submissions resides with the author(s), not with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The views expressed in these submissions are the views of the author(s) and should not be understood as reflecting the views of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Format

Submissions were provided to the Department in a range of formats with varying quality, including Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF and scanned facsimile.

To maintain consistent quality, those documents approved for publication have been made available in PDF format wherever possible.

Submissions received

Submissions have been received with permission for publication from the following organisations and persons:

Note: If you cannot access these PDF and TIFF files, please contact us and we will arrange to send you an alternative format.

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