The trade minister has flown to Hawaii for what he hopes is the final round of negotiations, with patents and exports the final hurdles to an agreement

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Australia’s sticking points on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement are biologic patents and market access around sugar and dairy, the trade minister has revealed, as it seems likely an agreement will be reached by the end of this week.

Andrew Robb has flown to Hawaii for what he hopes is the final round of negotiations on the broad detail of the TPP as looming elections in the US and Canada put pressure on the nations to reach a deal.

The latest round of negotiations comes as Labor passed a motion at its national conference to remove-investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses from existing trade agreements, which Robb has warned could jeopardise Australia’s standing as a reliable trading partner.

“We are very close [to an agreement on TPP] and I do feel that we’re into the last few issues,” he told ABC’s AM program on Monday.

“People do seem to have come with a mind with trying to conclude it and I’m quite hopeful by the end of the week we will have achieved what I think is the best trade deal since the Uruguay Round 20 years ago.”



Robb rejected criticisms the TPP negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy, saying broad detail of the agreement could be available to the public as early as the end of the week.

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Asked what issues were still being ironed out, Robb responded: “Different companies, different issues really, for Australia of course the biologics, what protection periods extend to biologic has been an issue from the outset and is still unresolved.

“Some market access issues are still in the discussion stage and sugar is in that category, same of dairy. Depending on the country, it is different issues,” he said.

“When it is concluded [people will see the details], the thing is nothing’s agreed until everything is agreed, we’ve been through thousands of pages of different issues which in large part have now been resolved but only if some of the more difficult issues are also agreed, nothing’s agreed until everything’s agreed.”

National MPs have previously said they will not support a TPP that does not expand Australia’s sugar export opportunities, a position backed by the agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce.

The biologics debate is centred on proposed 12-year patents which would mean medical companies could not develop particular treatments for various cancers and diseases for more than a decade if another company had a patent on it.

Labor, the Greens and crossbenchers have formed a group to raise concerns about the secrecy of the TPP, specifically that details will not be made public until after Robb signs it.

The TPP involves countries that make up 40% of the world’s global economy – America, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. At its completion, the TPP will cover trade, intellectual-property rights and financial regulations.

It comes on the heels of Australia’s free trade agreement with China and Labor backing a motion supported by Labor’s trade spokeswoman Penny Wong at its weekend national conference that ISDS clauses be removed from existing FTAs.



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“Many nations have expressed concern about the ISDS tribunal system and a future Labor government will have numerous international partners interested in reforming the ISDS system,” Pat Conroy, the NSW MP who introduced it, said.

When questioned about the motion by Guardian Australia, Robb pointed out that in three decades of ISDS clauses in FTAs the only time Australia has been sued by a company was over plain packaging cigarette laws introduced by the previous Labor government.

Robb criticised the motion and labelled talk about seeking to renegotiate trade agreements as “totally irresponsible and undermines our reputation as a reliable trading partner”.

He said Labor has negotiated FTAs containing ISDS provision and cited Chile as an example.

“What seems to be ignored is that ISDS provisions provide an important safeguard for Australian investors abroad in countries which in some cases have less reliable political and legal systems than ours,” he said in a statement.

“Australia has an enviable reputation as an investment destination and in a highly competitive environment, ISDS provisions further enhance that reputation. Modern ISDS provisions include important safeguards to protect our ability to legislate and regulate in important public policy areas such as health.”