Australia hosted the eleventh round of TPP negotiations in Melbourne from 1-9 March 2012. The round was the first full round involving all negotiating groups since the TPP Leaders met in Honolulu in mid-November last year. In Honolulu, the Leaders announced that agreement had been reached on the broad outlines of an ambitious and comprehensive agreement, and directed negotiators to redouble their efforts to conclude the agreement.
TPP negotiating parties conducted a mini-round in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 5 - 9 December. Only a small number of negotiating groups met during the week, these groups included rules of origin, services, investment and intellectual property. The teams negotiating market access on industrial goods, agricultural and textiles also met. All made further progress in narrowing gaps on issues in the legal texts and negotiation of market access arrangements.
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Leaders, including Prime Minister Gillard, met in Honolulu on 12 November in the margins of the APEC Leaders' meeting to review progress in the negotiations and consider next steps in the development of a 21st century free trade agreement, which would forge a pathway to free trade across the Asia-Pacific.
The ninth round of TPP negotiations concluded on 28 October in Lima, Peru. The 10 day round had around 870 delegates in attendance, including negotiators, stakeholders and media.
The eighth round of TPP negotiations was held in Chicago, United States, from 6–15 September 2011. TPP Parties (Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam) continued to work towards settling the broad outlines of an agreement by the APEC Leaders Meeting in Honolulu in November.
The seventh round of TPP negotiations was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 15-24 June 2011. TPP Parties (Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam) continued to make steady progress across all negotiating groups.
TPP partners continued to make progress toward a high-quality, 21st century agreement at the sixth round of TPP negotiations held in Singapore from 24 March to 1 April 2011. Negotiators at this round focussed on narrowing the gaps in positions on the draft text and discussing initial market access offers.
Chile hosted the fifth round of TPP negotiations in Santiago from 14-18 February 2011, with the nine TPP countries advancing further toward their goal of developing a high quality, comprehensive, 21st century regional trade agreement.
The fourth round of TPP negotiations was held in Auckland from 6-10 December 2010, with the nine TPP Parties continuing to make steady progress across the full range of issues under discussion. TPP Parties welcomed Vietnam's participation in its first round as a full TPP member.
The third round of TPP negotiations was held in Brunei from 4-9 October 2010 with the participation of new member, Malaysia. TPP Parties reached consensus early in the week on Malaysia joining the negotiations, and Malaysia then participated in the Brunei negotiations for the remainder of the week. Malaysia is the first country to join the negotiations since the group launched negotiations in March 2010. TPP Parties remain committed to further expanding membership over time to countries across the Asia-Pacific that can meet the high-quality, ambitious objectives of the TPP.
The second round of TPP negotiations, held in San Francisco from 14-18 June 2010, resulted in significant progress on both the broad architecture of the agreement, and on a range of specific issues to be covered in the TPP.
The first formal round of TPP negotiations was held in Melbourne on 15-19 March 2010, with the participation of over 200 officials from Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam. It was a productive first round that got the negotiations off to a strong start.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, also known as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement or TPP agreement is a multilateral free trade agreement that aims to integrate the economies of the Asia-Pacific region. The original agreement between the countries of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore was signed on June 3, 2005, and entered into force on May 28, 2006. Five additional countries, including Australia, Malaysia, Peru, United States, and Vietnam, are currently negotiating to join the group.
