Pacific Partnership Research Articles

Copyright Term Extension Economic Effect on the New Zealand Economy

This paper reviews an estimate of the economic effect on the New Zealand economy of copyright term extension which was recently released by the New Zealand Government but which was tabled as part of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations on the IP Chapter. The estimate is that the average cost to New Zealand from the obligation under TPP to extend New Zealand’s copyright period from 50 to 70 years would average around $55 million per year. Our review of this estimate suggests it is clearly incorrect, and indeed seriously over-estimates costs. As we demonstrate, the expert report by Henry Ergas on which it was based made major errors. First it focused only on the well-known social costs of copyright while completely excluding the equally well-known social benefits from copyright, thus ensuring, given that New Zealand is a net importer of copyrighted goods, that term extension would be found to have a negative impact. Second it made serious errors in its calculations of the costs of copyright, leading to an enormous overestimation of the costs of term extension, as much as 77 times higher than a correctly performed analysis that follows Ergas' general procedure generates. Finally the New Zealand Government exacerbated these misleadingly high costs by assuming, completely out of thin air, a cost of term extension for film and television that was not estimated by Ergas, and then compounded this unfounded claim by including in its cost estimate “range” a high value from the Ergas report that was contingent on a particular legal result that was known to have not occurred by the time the government came up with its range. Finally, when converting Ergas’ present value results into a yearly value, the government inappropriately used a discount rate inconsistent with that used by Ergas, a decision that increased the estimated costs from what they would have been had a consistent discount rate been used, as was appropriate.

The Impact of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement on US and Malaysian Business’ Foreign Labour Practices

The Obama Administration achieved a symbolic milestone in October 2015 when the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement was signed among 12 nations. The total trade share between the United States (US) and TTP partners are estimated at US892.4 billion. An important implication of TPP is the explicit expectation on Malaysia to ameliorate its poignant foreign labour practices. The paper examines the extent of TPP-readiness among Malaysia and US companies in tackling foreign labour issues. Concomitantly, the feasibility of TPP's ambitious standards on labour rights or remains a political rhetoric?

China’s About-face to the TPP: economic and security accounts compared

ABSTRACTWhen the US restarted the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2009, speculation arose as to whether China would compete against it or cooperate by becoming a TPP member. Between 2010 and 2013, China shifted in stance from competition to cooperation in meeting the TPP challenge. By looking at both the economic and security dimensions, this article argues that China’s economic concern determines whether to react and its security concern determines the direction in which China reacts. Between 2010 and 2012 when security pressure was overwhelming and economic concern was not formidable, counterbalance was inevitable. In 2013, when anxiety over security pressure calmed down and economic concern grew more threatening, bandwagon became possible. This finding challenges the classical theory of the domino effect by pinpointing the importance of security consideration in where the free trade agreements (FTA) proliferation heads to. It also supplements the emulation–competition dichotomy by highlighting that whether the FTA initiator is considered a threat or a model is not fixed but contingent upon the initiator’s changing relation with the responding nation.

Is health impact assessment useful in the context of trade negotiations? A case study of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement

ObjectiveThe Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a recently concluded free trade agreement involving Australia and 11 other Pacific-rim nations, which has the potential for far-reaching impacts on public health....

Prioritizing Integration Goals in the ASEAN Economic Community in a Changing World

According to the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), by 2015 ASEAN countries should have established the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) to “create a single market and production base which is stable, prosperous, highly competitive and economically integrated” in paragraph 5 of Article 1.Unfortunately, in its current condition, ASEAN is not well-prepared to undertake such ambitious objectives. ASEAN does not have strong regional institutions to deal with economic integration, unlike the EU. Nor does ASEAN have detailed legal agreements and robust dispute settlement procedures, unlike NAFTA. As a result, the AEC faces structural problems in dealing with regional economic integration, particularly the cross-pressures coming from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the EU’s bilateral FTAs with individual ASEAN members. This paper therefore advocates strengthening the ASEAN institutions and processes so that all of the AEC participants can interact in conjunction with the TPP and EU-ASEAN FTAs, and not become caught up in the cross-pressures of these modern FTAs. We present a series of potential reforms ranging from the modest to the ambitious that would allow the AEC to flourish and go beyond its current limitations. Ultimately that choice needs to be made by the ASEAN leaders themselves – but that choice needs to be made, and soon.

Trans-Pacific Partnership Provisions in Intellectual Property, Transparency, and Investment Chapters Threaten Access to Medicines in the US and Elsewhere.

Brook Baker describes the potential harms to global health from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement and its failure to balance the interests of patients and the public with those of industry.

Democracy Captured: The Mega-Regional Agreements and the Future of Global Public Law

The negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) exemplify the efficacy and the consequences of fragmentation as a “divide and conquer” strategy. By choosing this negotiating strategy and by maintaining secrecy over the contents of the envisioned rules, the negotiators exclude diverse stakeholders in developed and developing countries who will be affected by agreements that are set to establish rules for the global economy. This Essay outlines the challenges to democracy – both at the domestic level and at the global level – posed by these negotiation processes and by their envisioned outcomes. It then moves on to assess the potential institutional responses that might eventually arise and replicate, at the global level, checks and balances among stakeholders that have traditionally been secured domestically by national constitutions and enforced by national courts and legislatures.

Shaping the discourse: What has the food industry been lobbying for in the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and what are the implications for dietary health?

The Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), emblematic of the new generation of free trade agreements, is a regional agreement among 12 Pacific Rim countries. This paper reports on a study into how the food industry has framed issues in an effort to influence the TPP. We undertook a thematic analysis of the issues raised in publicly available submissions by the food industry to the trade negotiating bodies of four TPP countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States of America (USA). The food industry is an active player in trade negotiations, mainly through food industry associations and other business associations. The submissions assumed that trade liberalization would result in more exports and investment, as well as raise living standards and benefit the economy and country. There was little mention of food as anything other than a commodity, focusing on types and quantities of food traded and what this meant for revenue generation, with no connection to nutritional health. The TPP could affect food systems and population health in ways that are not readily apparent to governments, policy makers or the public. The written submissions mechanism is one way in which the food industry could have shaped the agreement by framing the issues, influencing the content and direction of the TPP negotiations and agreement itself. If coherence between trade and health goals is to be strengthened, the public health community needs to engage with industry arguments and build a strong counter-argument that gives more prominence to health concerns.

ANALISIS KEMUNGKINAN DAMPAK KETERLIBATAN INDONESIA DALAM TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (TPP) TERHADAP KINERJA PERDAGANGAN DAN DAYA SAING EKSPOR

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the largest economic cooperation agreement in the Asia Pacific region. Some countries are considering the decision to join this multilateral cooperation. This study aims to analyze the possible impact of Indonesian involvement in TPP on trade performance and export competitiveness. This became one of the contributions in the development of Islamic economic studies considering the purpose of this study is to formulate effective policies to realize a prosperous society selatas with maqashid shariah. The analysis in this research is done by simulating the free trade policy of Indonesia-TPP using Analytical tool of Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) version 8. The result of the analysis shows the impact of the decline of Indonesian trade performance in general. Indonesia's export competitiveness is measured using Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advatage (RSCA) and Trade Balance Index (TBI) to identify Indonesia's export commodities that have comparative and competitive advantages in the world market. By mapping the commodity into product mapping can be seen some of Indonesia's superior commodities in the world market.

A view on issues outside the farm gate that will influence the performance of hill country farming

Thank you for the invitation to be with you today and to participate in this symposium. As a recent newcomer to the ranks of hill country farming, I am looking forward to picking up some pointers I can take back to my small team at Mt Alford Station in Mid Canterbury. With academics and commentators speaking out strongly against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), central Auckland traffic being brought to a standstill by protests around the signing of TPP on 4 February, global dairy prices slumping, and major daily fluctuations seemingly becoming normal in global stock markets, you could be forgiven for concluding that nothing is rational or normal anymore.

The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement and Pharmaceutical Regulation in Canada and Australia

The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a large regional trade agreement involving twelve countries. It was signed in principle in February 2016 but has not yet been ratified in any of the participating countries. The TPP provisions place a range of constraints on how governments regulate the pharmaceutical sector and set prices for medicines. This paper presents a prospective policy analysis of the possible effects of the TPP on these two points in Canada and Australia. Five chapters of relevance to pharmaceutical policy are analyzed: chapters on Technical Barriers to Trade (Chapter 8), Intellectual Property (Chapter 18), Investment (Chapter 9), Dispute Resolution (Chapter 28), and an annex of the chapter on Transparency and Anti-Corruption (Chapter 26, Annex 26-A). The paper concludes that the TPP could have profound effects on the criteria these countries use to decide on drug safety and effectiveness, how new drugs are approved (or not) for marketing, post-market surveillance and inspection, the listing of drugs on public formularies, and how individual drugs are priced in future. Furthermore, the TPP, if ratified and enforced, will reduce future policy flexibility to address the increasing challenge of rising drug prices.

Estimating the Effects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

In February 2016, twelve Pacific Rim countries signed the agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), one of the largest and most comprehensive trade deals in history. While there are several estimates of the likely effects of the TPP, there is no systematic study on the effects on all Latin American countries. We present the results from applying a multi-sector model with perfect competition presented by Costinot and Rodriguez-Clare (2014). The exercise, based on input-output data for 189 countries and 26 sectors, shows that (i) Asian TPP members are estimated to benefit most from the agreement, (ii) negative spillovers to non-TPP LAC countries appear to be of a different order of magnitude than the gains of members, and (iii) some non-TPP LAC countries may experience relatively large benefits from joining the TPP. As a cautionary note, however, we point out that even a cursory cross-study comparison shows that there is considerable uncertainty regarding the potential effects of the TPP for both members and non-members.

Estimating the Effects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

In February 2016, twelve Pacific Rim countries signed the agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), one of the largest and most comprehensive trade deals in history. While there are several estimates of the likely effects of the TPP, there is no systematic study on the effects on all Latin American countries. We present the results from applying a multi-sector model with perfect competition presented by Costinot and Rodriguez-Clare (2014). The exercise, based on input-output data for 189 countries and 26 sectors, shows that (i) Asian TPP members are estimated to benefit most from the agreement, (ii) negative spillovers to non-TPP LAC countries appear to be of a different order of magnitude than the gains of members, and (iii) some non-TPP LAC countries may experience relatively large benefits from joining the TPP. As a cautionary note, however, we point out that even a cursory cross-study comparison shows that there is considerable uncertainty regarding the potential effects of the TPP for both members and non-members.

Climate Change and the Trading System: Implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

This paper considers the implications of the shift of trade rule-making and liberalization from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to the mega-regional mode for the development of responses to climate change. We review developments at the interface between the trade system and climate change responses at the national, sub-national, corporate, and civil society levels, and evaluate the impact of the environmental provisions in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. We find that the shift of the main action in trade negotiations into the mega-regional forums is not a positive development for action on climate change. Effective action will be multilateral in scope, collective in nature, and policy-activist in design. From the perspective of interaction with trade rules, the coordinated industrial policies required to deliver a sustainable economy will likely require sanction under a multilateral environmental agreement. Armed with such an agreement, the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism could safeguard policy space while settling disputes. The mega-regionals will generate a system unfriendly to climate change policy, as they are plurilateral and exclusionary in scope, competitive in nature, and policy-restrictive in design. Moreover, they are leading in the development of investment and competition regimes that the WTO lacks. These latter regimes, which are increasingly important due to the high degree of trade and investment integration in the modern global economy, will be given teeth by investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms within the agreements. This militates against the evolution of a coherent and transparent body of climate-policy-friendly case law, which would be more likely under a WTO regime. Perhaps most importantly, as the weak outcome of the TPP shows, they are likely to use up trade negotiating coin without contributing to climate change responses.

How the Transnational Pharmaceutical Industry Pursues its Interests Through International Trade and Investment Agreements: A Case Study of the Trans Pacific Partnership

This chapter explores the strategies used by transnational pharmaceutical companies and their industry associations to advance their economic interests through international trade and investment agreements. We begin by characterizing the research-based pharmaceutical industry as a transnational industry with a concerted global agenda to expand and extend monopolies over its products, thereby increasing returns for its shareholders. We describe the broad set of strategies employed to meet these objectives. We then give an historical overview of attempts by the industry to use international trade agreements to expand intellectual property rights and constrain the operation of pharmaceutical coverage programs. Focusing specifically on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, we explore the ways in which pharmaceutical industry bodies in the US and other TPP countries have sought to influence the negotiations to further their agenda and protect and promote the industry’s interests.

Canada’s Trade Policy: In Search of a Roadmap

This article examines Canada’s trade policy in light of efforts by the Harper government to respond to increasing global competition through the Global Markets Action Plan (2013). Through an analysis of three initiatives, the Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA), the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), and the Trans–Pacific Partnership (TPP), it becomes clear that Canada’s current strategy has only gone part of the way to enact policies that will be most beneficial to its economy. This article shows that Canada’s Global Markets Action Plan, though ambitious, does not correctly prioritize Canada’s interests: it gives too little attention to improving Canada’s strongest trading relationship with its immediate neighbors in North America; it does not comprehensively address the changing nature of trade (which is now focused on trade in value-added products); and finally, its almost singular focus on market access and increasing exports directs attention away from the type of liberalization that would be most beneficial to Canadians, which is opening up the market for imports and dismantling Canada’s supply management system.

Regulatory Regionalism, Political Projects, and State Transformation in the Asia-Pacific

I find in the Asia-Pacific new modes of regulatory regional governance—regulatory regionalism. My approach suggests that a variety of regulatory regimes are located inside rather than outside the state. Hence an important implication of my argument is that my analysis of regional governance must be focused much more on the transformation of the state rather than on the creation of new regional institutions. Governance is regionalized within the state bringing with it new actors, forums, and procedures which go unrecognized in much of the literature on regional governance. In the latter half of the article, I examine the mobilization of regulatory governance projects via both the national and subnational state in China. These regulatory projects are in response to the interests and challenges faced by internationalization of state capital. The article concludes by focusing on the increasing contestation between U.S.- and Chinese-led regulatory projects such as the Trans Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Democracy Captured: The Mega-Regional Agreements and the Future of Global Public Law

The negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) exemplify the efficacy and the consequences of fragmentation as a “divide and conquer” strategy. By choosing this negotiating strategy and by maintaining secrecy over the contents of the envisioned rules, the negotiators exclude diverse stakeholders in developed and developing countries who will be affected by agreements that are set to establish rules for the global economy. This Essay outlines the challenges to democracy – both at the domestic level and at the global level – posed by these negotiation processes and by their envisioned outcomes. It then moves on to assess the potential institutional responses that might eventually arise and replicate, at the global level, checks and balances among stakeholders that have traditionally been secured domestically by national constitutions and enforced by national courts and legislatures.

Focusing Attention on Climate Change and Pacific Island Nations

The 2014 Pan Pacific Partnership on Climate Change Adaptation; Taipei, Taiwan, 29 September to 2 October 2014

Sustainable Rice Culture in Asia

Japan has engaged in rice farming since 300 BCE. The rice farmers are highly respected as an integral part of the Japanese cultural tradition. Soon after the end of the second world war, farming cooperatives were established to ensure the livelihood of the rice farming community. This has been achieved through high tariff walls among other forms of protectionism. With the Trans Pacific Partnership under negotiation, the farming sector must reduce their tariffs. Herein, suggestions are made as to how the rice farming industry can be sustainable if and when the tariff walls are reduced.