With the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiation concluded, attention is now turning to the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement. The TPP currently includes the US, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam. Canada has not joined the negotiation, but there have been periodic rumours that wants in (it was […]

Cooperation in the Pacific Rim by Jakob Polacsek, World Economic Forum (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/48179628441
Digital Trade
Petition Launched in Opposition to CETA
A new petition has been launched against the Canada – European Union Trade Agreement. The inclusion of copyright in the agreement is referenced as reason to oppose the agreement.
Japan Wanted Canada Out of Initial ACTA Group
Arai stressed that we should move as fast as possible and keep in mind that the intent of the agreement is to address the IPR problems of third-nations such as China, Russia, and Brazil, not to negotiate the different interests of like-minded countries. The new agreement could serve as a yardstick for measuring the market economy status of countries such as China and Russia.
Another cable includes commentary on specifically excluding other international organizations, with the USTR stressing that the G8 or OECD “might make it more difficult to construct a high-standards agreement.”
From a Canadian perspective it is worth noting that the Japanese proposed keeping Canada out of the initial negotiating group.
Chilean and NZ Proposals for TPP IP Chapter: Counter IP Abuse, Support Public Domain
The Chilean and New Zealand proposals for the intellectual property chapter in the Trans-Pacific Partnership have leaked (Canada has been excluded from the talks so far). The leaks demonstrate how much different many other countries view the inclusion of IP in trade agreements when compared to the U.S. and Europe. […]
CETA and Copyright: My Appearance Before the Standing Committee on International Trade






