At Auckland, New Zealand, on 4 February 2016, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States of America and Viet Nam sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The original English, Spanish and French texts are equally authentic; in the event of any divergence, the English text prevails. The originals are deposited with New Zealand, designated as Depositary.

The preamble records the Parties’ resolve to establish a comprehensive regional agreement that promotes economic integration to liberalise trade and investment, to strengthen bonds of friendship, to build on their rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, to recognise differences in levels of development, to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, to establish a predictable legal and commercial framework, and to facilitate regional trade through efficient and transparent customs procedures.

The Parties affirm their inherent right to regulate and to preserve flexibility to set legislative and regulatory priorities, safeguard public welfare and protect legitimate public welfare objectives such as public health, safety, the environment, the conservation of living or non-living exhaustible natural resources, the integrity and stability of the financial system and public morals, and further their inherent right to adopt, maintain or modify health care systems. The preamble addresses state-owned enterprises, high levels of environmental protection, labour rights, transparency and the elimination of bribery, cultural identity and diversity, and the prospect of accession by other States or separate customs territories as a foundation for a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific.

Article 1.1 establishes a free trade area, consistent with Article XXIV of GATT 1994 and Article V of GATS, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement. Article 1.2 affirms coexistence with existing international agreements, including the WTO Agreement, and provides for consultations if a Party considers a provision inconsistent with another agreement to which it and at least one other Party are party. Article 1.3 defines, among other terms, “Agreement” as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, “Commission” as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission, and “Party” as any State or separate customs territory for which the Agreement is in force, and Annex 1-A lists the twelve original signatory Parties.

Chapter 30 makes the Annexes, Appendices and footnotes an integral part of the Agreement. Amendments require the written agreement of all Parties and approval in accordance with each Party’s applicable legal procedures, entering into force 60 days after notification to the Depositary, or on such other date as the Parties may agree. Accession is open to any APEC member and to any other State or separate customs territory as the Parties may agree, on negotiated and approved terms and conditions.

Article 30.5 provides that the Agreement shall enter into force 60 days after all original signatories have notified the Depositary in writing of the completion of their applicable legal procedures. If not all have so notified within two years of the date of signature, it shall enter into force 60 days after the expiry of that period if at least six of the original signatories, which together account for at least 85 per cent of the combined gross domestic product of the original signatories in 2013 (IMF data, current prices in U.S. dollars), have notified within that period; otherwise, 60 days after that threshold is later met. Withdrawal is effected by written notice to the Depositary and takes effect six months thereafter, unless the Parties agree on a different period.

The instrument signed at Auckland is not the later Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); it is the TPP of 4 February 2016, with New Zealand as Depositary of the English, Spanish and French texts.

Image: Auckland skyline and harbour; Allan Grey, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Trans-Pacific Partnership. Treaty text: Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Chapter 30 Final Provisions (signed 4 February 2016), USTR.