MELBOURNE, Australia, Nov. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Trade expert Alan Oxley says that the current round of meetings of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Beijing point to a broader Asia-Pacific trade pact within a decade.
"China has been showing increased interest in the TPP negotiations for the past two years," Mr Oxley said. "Beijing is participating in the RCEP negotiations for a regional ASEAN-based agreement and has been supportive of a broader, regional Asia-Pacific trade pact within the APEC forum."
Mr Oxley, a former trade ambassador and current chairman of the APEC Study Centre at RMIT University in Melbourne, said that China's approach in the World Trade Organization shows it treats commitments in trade agreement as binding in international law.
"The signs are there for what would be the largest trade agreement comprising the world's three largest economies. This will potentially bring significant benefits to the world economy and lead to a stronger global economy."
However, Mr Oxley said that process risks being stymied by anti-trade interests.
"We are already seeing signs of anti-trade groups lobbying to de-rail the current talks," he said.
"Environmental activists, protectionist labour unions and public health advocates want trade rules weakened and even turned into tools giving legal force to measures that restrict trade, not enhance it."
"The opposition to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) rights is a case in point. ISDS has been a feature of nearly all US-backed trade agreements and many of Australia's free trade agreements. It is similar to rights granted in bilateral investment treaties which enable commercial entities to initiate international arbitration if provisions for freedom to invest are not respected.
"If the TPP -- and by extension a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific which is now being considered by APEC -- is to succeed, ISDS is an essential part of this architecture."
Mr Oxley said a recent report by his consultancy ITS Global said that the establishment of a strong, rules-based system that doesn't make exemptions for any industry -- such as agriculture or energy -- is equally important.
"A comprehensive, rules-based system has been the key to the success of the WTO's architecture," he said. "It's vital that this be continued in the TPP."
Read the ITS Global report Trans-Pacific Partnership: Free Trade Architecture to Boost Global Growth here at http://www.itsglobal.net/sites/default/files/itsglobal/141003_TPP_ITSGLOBAL_0.pdf
For additional comment from Alan Oxley, ITS Global Principal, please contact +61-417-358-462.
ABOUT ITS GLOBAL
ITS Global is a consultancy that specialises in public policy in the Asia Pacific region. Its expertise encompasses international trade and economics, direct foreign investment, environment and sustainability, international aid and economic development, and corporate social responsibility and management of strategic risks. Its public sector clients have included the Asian Development Bank (ADB), AusAID, the OECD, the Department for International Development of the UK (DFID), the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry of Japan (METI), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the ASEAN Secretariat, and the APEC Secretariat. For more information visit www.itsglobal.net.
