Negotiators Extend TPP Talks to 2014

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December 11, 2013

After a four-day long meeting held in Singapore, the Ministers and Heads of Delegation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries indicated TPP negotiations will have to continue on to next month, despite a previously stated goal to complete the agreement by the end of this year.  In early October, the ministers released a statement commenting, “we have agreed that negotiators should now proceed to resolve all outstanding issues with the objective of competing this year a comprehensive and balanced, regional agreement.”  Although the negotiations are on an accelerated track, the TPP countries need additional time to finalize legal text issues and resolve a number of outstanding issues, including market access.  A new time frame for the completion of the TPP agreement has not been released.   

At the negotiations in Singapore, the 12 TPP countries made “substantial progress,” as potential landing zones and corrections to the legal text were outlined, according to a USTR press release.  In a joint statement, the TPP countries decided “to continue {their} intensive work in the coming weeks towards such an agreement.”

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