A Preliminary Analysis of the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Proposed IPR and Investment Chapters

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed regional free trade agreement being negotiated between the United States, Vietnam, New Zealand, Peru,Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Chile, Canada, Brunei and Australia. The TPP is intended to be a “living agreement” in that it designed to allow other Pacific Rim countries to join over time. As such, the TPP’s significance among APEC countries and the United States will increase as more members are added to the TPP. Two of the TPP chapters related to intellectual property rights and investment have been leaked to the public and published by non-profit organizations and government officials. These sections raise significant issues regarding international trade policy, in particularly whether they adequately balance the interests of promoting private economic growth without undermining a nation’s ability to regulate public welfare, the environment, health care policy and other areas of public significance.