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Big Molecule Watch
April 4, 2016

TPP Updates: Japan and Canada Begin Deliberations on Trade Deal Ratification

Since the TPP’s signing by twelve Pacific Rim countries this past February, the agreement has been making its way through the “next phase” of its development—ratification through the signatory countries’ “respective domestic processes.”   As we’ve covered previously (see our posts here and here), if enacted, the TPP’s intellectual property provisions could have a major impact on the biologics industry.

Two of the TPP’s twelve signatories, Japan and Canada, have recently announced the beginning of their domestic deliberations on the agreement.

Japan’s House of Representatives is set to begin deliberations on the TPP tomorrow, April 5.  After the House deliberates, the trade deal will go to the House’s TPP special committee for consideration.   The Japan Times reports that these deliberations are “expected to be tough” due to opposition from Japan’s Democratic Party, which has requested records of the TPP negotiations on suspicion that Japan may have “conceded too much” to the U.S. in negotiations between former TPP Minister Akira Amari and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.

Meanwhile, a parliamentary committee has begun consideration of the TPP in Canada, and has invited comments from the public as part of its study.

As we covered in a previous post, the ratification process for the U.S. entails several steps between signing and enactment.  With the TPP facing fire from presidential candidates on the campaign trail, those steps may become more complicated as the ratification process continues.

Stay tuned to the Big Molecule Watch for further developments.