Trade Groups Applaud TPP

The Australian Accord Australasia Limited, the Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CCTFA), the Chilean Cámara de la Industria Cosmética de Chile A.G., the Mexican Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Productos Cosmetico y la Asociación Nacional de la Industria del Cuidado Personal y del Hogar (CANIPEC), the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association of New Zealand (CTFA), Comité Peruano de Cosmética e Higiene-(COPECOH-CCL), the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association of Singapore (CTFAS), and the US Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) are pleased that their governments have concluded negotiations on the Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). 


TTP impacts trade between Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, US, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore and New Zealand.


“We believe that the TPP is an extraordinary opportunity to facilitate international trade of cosmetics and personal care products through the alignment of regulatory policies. We also believe TPP will be very beneficial for the families who trust and enjoy our products worldwide,” the groups said in a joint statement.  “The TPP Agreement goes beyond reducing tariffs. With the inclusion of an Annex on cosmetic products, it will help the personal care products industry address technical regulatory trade barriers that impede our industry’s ability to provide safe, innovative products in a timely fashion to consumers around the world.”
 

The groups noted that the cosmetic and personal care products industry is a global industry that requires open markets and transparent, consistent regulatory environments. International trade is a critical component to the success of our industry, and significantly contributes to our ability to compete globally, to expand manufacturing and employment, and to support other industries such as advertising, packaging, and transportation.


“The personal care products industry also promotes continual technological innovation and supports small and medium sized businesses (SMEs),” they added.


The US, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations have agreed on the largest free-trade accord in a generation. The deal would cap more than five years of arduous negotiations on a project central to President Obama’s economic agenda and potentially hand him a legacy-defining victory late in his presidency. Negotiators said that they were near a consensus on terms for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after a feverish week of talks here among trade ministers who sought to close the gaps on several lingering disputes. Plans to publicly announce a deal in the afternoon were delayed several times as the parties wrangled over the technical details related to market access for dairy products and new-generation biologic medicines.

Those are just two sections of a sprawling, multiple-chapter pact that addresses tariff reductions for agriculture and automobiles as well as intellectual-property rights for pharmaceutical drugs and movies, the free flow of information on the Internet, wildlife conservation, online commerce and dispute settlements for multinational corporations. US officials said they were confident that meetings late Sunday and early Monday would produce a final agreement. Other nations also expressed optimism that a deal would be reached. The sense of urgency was palpable among the officials, who fear they are running out of time with political elections in Canada this month and the United States next year. Opponents of the deal have staged demonstrations inside and outside a Westin hotel in Atlanta, where the negotiators are meeting.

 

In a statement, the AFL-CIO said it provided the Obama administration with ideas to improve US trade positions so that they work for the 99%, not just the 1%. Unfortunately, it is becoming clear the TPP will not create jobs, protect the environment and ensure safe imports. Rather, it appears modeled after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a free trade agreement where the largest global corporations benefit and working families are left behind.

“While the administration touts the TPP as a job-creating, wage-raising enterprise, it has not made public any employment or sectoral impacts study,” the AFL-CIO noted. “The administration hasn't provided information as to how the TPP will promote manufacturing more effectively than current US trade policy and the global corporate agenda continues to make demands for deregulation, privatization, tax breaks and other financial advantages for Big Business while shrinking the social safety net in the name of 'labor flexibility.'”