Announcing the full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)

The document consisting of 30 chapters was just announced this afternoon by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the agencies in charge of TPP of the remaining 11 countries. one month after the negotiations ended. The document includes full details about commitments and conditions [...]

The document consisting of 30 chapters was just announced this afternoon by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the agencies in charge of TPP of the remaining 11 countries, exactly one month after the negotiation process ended. The document contains full details of commitments and provisions applicable to all member countries.

One of the most interesting points in this document is the applicable terms. Accordingly, TPP will take effect within 60 days from the date all members notify that they have completed the domestic legal approval process. In the event that some provisions or the entire agreement are not ratified by one or several member countries, the TPP will still take effect if at least 6 out of 12 members, accounting for at least 85% of the bloc's GDP, accept it.

Full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – TPP (English)
Chapter 0	Foreword
Chapter 1	Initial provisions and general definitions
Chapter 2	Trade in goods
Chapter 3	Rules of origin
Chapter 4	Textiles
Chapter 5	Customs and trade facilitation
Chapter 6	Trade remedies
Chapter 7	Sanitary and quarantine of animals and plants
Chapter 8	Technical barriers to trade (TBT)
Chapter 9	Investment
Chapter 10	Cross-border trade in services
Chapter 11	Financial Services
Chapter 12	Temporary entry of business persons
Chapter 13	Telecommunications
Chapter 14	Electronic commerce
Chapter 15	Government Procurement
Chapter 16	Competition Policy
Chapter 17	State-owned enterprises and monopolies
Chapter 18	Intellectual property rights
Chapter 19	Labor
Chapter 20	Environment
Chapter 21	Cooperation and Capacity Building
Chapter 22	Competitiveness and Business Facilitation
Chapter 23	Development
Chapter 24	Small and medium enterprises
Chapter 25	Policy Environment Cohesion
Chapter 26	Transparency and Anti-Corruption
Chapter 27	Administrative and institutional provisions
Chapter 28	Dispute Resolution
Chapter 29	Exceptions
Chapter 30	Final Provisions

See more: Full summary of the TPP Agreement in Vietnamese here

For Vietnam, the tariff schedule in the Agreement shows that import and export taxes on many items will be removed as soon as the agreement takes effect such as textiles, footwear, tuna, purebred animal meat...

On the contrary, the longest tariff removal roadmap will last 16 years, belonging to goods such as crude oil, eggs... Some other products have a roadmap to reduce tariffs step by year, for example potatoes (currently 24% tax rate, reduced to 12% in the 2nd year, 6% in the 3rd year and tax-free in the 4th year)...

Economic correlation of 12 countries in TPP (Details)

Sources from the Ministry of Industry and Trade said this is the document agreed upon by the parties after completing negotiations on October 5 in Atlanta (USA). However, details in the agreement are still under legal review in each country and may change. The Vietnamese text has been prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and will soon be announced.

In addition to the commitments in the agreement, during the negotiation process, TPP countries also reached a number of bilateral agreements. These agreements will be announced separately by the signing parties and take effect at the same time as the TPP.

After announcing the full text of the agreement, each country will spend a certain amount of time for people to study the agreement before signing, ranging from 60 to 90 days. After this period, TPP countries will officially sign the agreement.

“The time for the official signing of the Agreement has not yet been determined but is expected to be no later than the first quarter of 2016,” said the Ministry of Industry and Trade. After the official signing, countries will carry out procedures to ratify the agreement according to the provisions of their country's laws.

Talking at a press conference in October 2015, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, Head of the TPP negotiating team, said it is expected to take 1.5-2 years for the agreement to be ratified.

Phuong Linh – Chi Hieu