Vietnam releases full text of TPP agreement

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) posted the full document, as well as the bilateral agreements between Vietnam and TPP partners, at http://tpp.moit.gov.vn/.

According to international trade negotiation practices, an agreement will be made public after the involved parties have completed all legal review procedures.

However, due to locals’ and businesses’ demand to study the trade pact, the TPP countries decided to release the full document.

There might be some technical changes in the final version, but they would not affect commitments made by TPP members.

The MoIT is working closely with other ministries and departments to translate the text into Vietnamese as soon as possible.

The announcement of the TPP document took place one month after negotiations concluded in the US in October this year.

The text provides detailed information on commitments made by TPP member countries, as well as articles applied to all parties involved.

The TPP will come into effect within 60 days after all members announce they have completed the domestic legal review procedures.

After releasing the final text, each country will allow its people to study the pact for 60-90 days before signing it.

After that, the document will be ratified according to respective countries’ laws.

The TPP started out as P-4 with Chile , New Zealand , Singapore and Mexico. The US joined in September 2008 and Vietnam in early 2009. The deal now brings together 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.

It is expected to help improve local living standards, contribute to poverty reduction efforts, improve transparency and protect labour rights.

The agreement is also considered an important step to reach the target of promoting trade liberalisation in the Asia-Pacific region.