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.

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.

The round was attended by 500 negotiators from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

TPP Parties made further strong headway at this round and remain on track to conclude negotiation of a comprehensive, 21st Century agreement. The work undertaken during this round demonstrated that TPP countries are dedicated to allocating the resources necessary to conclude the agreement as rapidly as possible. Negotiating groups worked together on developing and implementing detailed plans for concluding negotiations. Notable progress was made on regulatory coherence, transparency, competitiveness and business facilitation, the interests of small-and-medium sized enterprises, and development. A number of groups agreed to meet intersessionally to build on the progress and momentum to date.

Negotiations on market access for goods, services, investment and government procurement progressed well. Several countries presented improved offers for services, investment and government procurement. Parties continued to work on enhancing offers and requesting improvements to deliver a comprehensive high-ambition tariff outcome.

The round had a strong stakeholder component, with over 250 stakeholders registered to attend the events. A stakeholder forum was held on Sunday 4 March and was attended by negotiators from all the TPP countries. The forum featured around 40 presentations from a range of academic groups, businesses and public interest groups. A reception night on Tuesday 6 March provided an opportunity for stakeholders and negotiators to meet informally and discuss their views on TPP related matters. In addition to the formal program, negotiators attended a number of events and presentations hosted by stakeholders through the week.

The next round will be held in May 2012. 

Source: http://www.dfat.gov.au/

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