[CTC] Froman: U.S. Sending Out TPP Implementation Teams, Undecided On Fixes

[Arthur Stamoulis]

INSIDE US TRADE
Froman: U.S. Sending Out TPP Implementation Teams, Undecided On Fixes

April 18, 2016 
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Monday (April 18) said the U.S. government is sending teams to Trans-Pacific Partnership countries to discuss how they will implement their obligations on intellectual property (IP) and other issues, as well as the capacity building they may require in order to meet them.

USTR has sent such teams to Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei “over the last couple weeks,” and that similar teams will be traveling to Australia, New Zealand, and Latin American TPP members. The teams are being dispatched "both to focus on implementation and also, where appropriate, to focus on capacity building,” he said at a discussion on TPP with ACT | The App Association.

Froman also signaled that the administration has not yet decided how it will address complaints by members of Congress about the TPP's provisions on biologic medicines and financial services data localization.

He said the administration is still developing “ideas” for how to resolve complaints by congressional Republicans that the TPP's required market exclusivity period for biologic drugs is too short. “We are in touch with [the biologics] stakeholders and their supporters in Congress. We're developing ideas and gathering input as an important next step in finding a solution,” Froman said.

On financial services, he said the administration continues to have a constructive dialogue with U.S. regulators and U.S. companies regarding the sector's exclusion from a general TPP ban on local data storage requirements, but has not yet concluded its process.

“We are working on the financial services side with regulators and financial services companies. We're not done yet but the Treasury Department is having good dialogue with all relevant stakeholders there to help identify a path forward,” he said.

Administration officials signaled <http://insidetrade.com/node/153590> to financial services industry representatives last week that they will soon come forward with a proposal to address their complaints about being excluded from a ban on local data storage requirements.

He claimed that, overall, the administration is “making progress” on all outstanding issues raised by members of Congress and touted support for TPP from agricultural and dairy groups as proof that a path forward is possible.

“On the outstanding TPP issues we're making progress and working closely with various ag groups which have issues and those are moving ahead. We're working closely with -- you saw dairy, the dairy industry last month or so came out with their support [of the agreement],” Froman said.

The National Milk Producers Federation last month endorsed <http://insidetrade.com/node/153020> the TPP deal, while stressing that the Obama administration needs to strongly enforce the agreement and ensure adequate implementation. It reiterated that message in a letter to members of Congress last week calling for a 2016 vote, sent the same day that more than 200 other agriculture groups and companies in a separate letter urged congressional leaders <http://insidetrade.com/node/153486> to hold a vote on TPP this year.

Froman said the administration is continuing to work on the draft statement of administrative action and plan for implementing and enforcing the agreement that under fast track must be submitted ahead of the draft TPP implementing bill.

“Look, we're working on both, and on the implementation plan we've also been reaching out to stakeholders gathering their input and their ideas about how best to frame it looking at long term implementation and enforce the obligations and that's an ongoing effort,” he said.

USTR earlier this month held two days of calls <http://insidetrade.com/node/153429> with members of trade advisory committees to solicit input on implementation and enforcement of the TPP's obligations.

On capacity building, Froman said USTR is working with developing country TPP members to identify their needs and with developed countries to coordinate assistance.

 “[T]hat means talking to countries like Vietnam or Peru or Malaysia about what needs to be done on capacity building, how to help them develop the necessary human resources, institutional resources to meet their obligations,” he said. “And it means reaching out to some of the more advanced industrialized countries like Canada, Australia, Japan and talk about what they can do to help support that capacity building.”

He cited IP as one area USTR is focusing on in its discussions with other TPP countries on implementation and capacity building.

“Among the areas we're focused on is certainly implementation of the intellectual property rights provisions and making sure that they have the capabilities through their IP authorities -- sometimes it's their customs authorities and others -- to fully implement the IP provisions of the agreement,” he said.

The New Zealand government has already issued a plan for how it will implement its IP obligations, and brand-name pharmaceutical companies are already taking issue with certain aspects of it. For instance, they have flagged as problematic New Zealand's proposal to implement the TPP obligation to provide patent term extensions for delays in the drug marketing approval process.

“We also recognize that for some of these countries, especially in developing countries, they're going to need help and we have a whole trade capacity building portion of the agreement working right now to identify where they need help and training their intellectual property rights agency's in their countries so they can actually fulfill their obligations fully that they have agreed to,” Froman said.

 Froman said following the signing of the TPP on Feb. 3 U.S. time that the Obama administration was consulting with TPP countries <http://insidetrade.com/node/152441> on areas in which it could provide them with technical assistance or capacity building to implement their TPP obligations.

At press time, USTR had not responded to an emailed request for more details on the teams it is sending out to TPP countries to discuss implementation and capacity building.

Froman made his remarks at a discussion to launch a report by ACT | The App Association highlighting the TPP provisions it said would assist small U.S. app companies in expanding into foreign markets.

Among these are TPP rules requiring free flow of data across borders as well as a prohibition on data localization requirements outside the financial sector.

The report also touted the TPP's rules banning customs duties on digital content; prohibiting governments from requiring source code be handed over as a condition for market access; and preventing governments from requiring certain encryption techniques as a condition of market access.

The group also touted the IP provisions as generally providing strong protections for app developers. The association represents software companies that develop applications for smartphones and other devices.

 
 
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