WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2015 - The White House has posted the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, triggering the start of a public review process.
The 30 chapters of the TPP agreement include a sanitary and phytosanitary measures section meant to prevent countries from using standards for food safety and animal and plant health as trade barriers. There are other chapters on market access, rules of origin, trade remedies, intellectual property and environment.
A full set of links to the TPP text is available here.
Under the Trade Promotion Authority law enacted this summer, the text of a trade agreement must be released at least 60 days before President Obama can sign it. The 12-nation TPP still must be ratified by Congress.
Included in the TPP release are a number of side letters detailing bilateral understandings between the United States, Australia, Vietnam, Mexico and other TPP countries on treating issues such as sugar, catfish and geographical indications.
“Continuing our commitment to transparency, this release complements a number of additional resources that we have made available on the same website, including state-by-state fact sheets, issue briefs, and chapter summaries,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said that winning congressional approval for the trade pact would “require the administration to fully explain the benefits of this agreement and what it will mean for American families. I continue to reserve judgement on the path ahead.”
The White House will be leaning heavily on agribusiness interests to win congressional approval. According to an internal analysis by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, more than 150 of the 218 House votes for TPA in June were from members who represent districts with at least $200 million in annual agricultural production.
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