The Trade Ministers of the nations of the Pacific have reached an agreement over a long commercial pact that shall reduce tariff barriers and set new common standards for 12 countries. The statement was announced by a public servant close to the negotiations, according to the agency Reuters.

The Trans-Pacific Strategic Partnership of Economic Association (TPP) will affect 40% of the world’s economy.

The TPP was a source of controversy as the negotiations were conducted in secret for the past 5 years and several interest groups felt threatened, from workers of the automotive industry in Mexico to milk producing farms in Canada.

The final round of negotiations in Atlanta, which had started last Wednesday, had come to a dead end regarding the period of time that the monopoly of biotechnological medicine should be allowed. Finally, the United States and Australia came to terms.

Negotiating teams had been confronting about the minimum period of time for protecting the rights of data used to produce biological medicine.

The US wanted a 12 years period of protection to encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in expensive biological treatments, such as the treatment for cancer. Australia, New Zeeland and public health groups wanted a 5 years period in order to reduce costs and the burden of medical program subsidized by the State.

In addition, the US, Mexico, Canada and Japan agreed on the rules that regulate the trade of vehicles, which state the number of pieces of a car that must be fabricated in the TPP to be reach the level of tax free.
SOURCE: Agencias Atlanta