Expanding the P-4 Trade Agreement into a Broader Trans-Pacific Partnership: Implications, Risks and Opportunities
In 2005, New Zealand, Singapore, Chile and Brunei entered into a path-breaking free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement which is also known as the P-4 Agreement. The agreement contains an open accession provision which explicitly contemplates the expansion of the agreement to include other countries willing to commit to its terms. The expansion of the agreement has important implications for the world trading system. Its broad coverage and open accession provision may suggest that the agreement has the potential to serve as a stepping stone in the path towards further multilateral trade liberalization in the WTO context. On the other hand, expanding the agreement could result in an agreement so powerful that its members no longer consider devoting energies to liberalizing in the WTO context to be of great importance. The article explores some of the unique aspects of the TPP as well as the potential implications of expanding the agreement, both for the East Asian region and for the broader multilateral trading system.
Clusters and Links in Asian Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual property developments in Asia are dynamic, distinct and diverse. There are also significant complexities within both the region and in each individual country. To help advance research and understanding in this area, this chapter underscores the insights provided by two pairs of analytical concepts. The first pair covers divergences and convergences. It aims to shed light on the similarities and differences in intellectual property regimes in Asia. It also explains why intellectual property laws have been developed the way they did. The second pair concerns clusters and links. Instead of asking why similarities and differences exist, countries are clustered together to provide a more systematic and meaningful comparison. Through a discussion of links, this chapter also reminds us that these clusters do not stand alone. Instead, they interact with each other and with intellectual property regimes outside Asia. Taken together, these two pairs of analytical concepts serve an additional goal. It reflects the duality — or the yin and yang — inherent in Asian societies and the highly uneven development both within Asia and inside each Asian country. Although observers have been understandably uncomfortable with this duality, there is no easy way to present intellectual property developments in Asia without their complexities.
Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Products Authority: Potential AUSFTA Impacts on Safety and Cost-Effectiveness Regulation for Medicines and Medical Devices in New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand had agreed in principle to the creation of a single agency for the regulation of pharmaceuticals and other therapeutic products in a trans-Tasman market. The Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority ("ANZTPA") was being developed to replace both the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration ("TGA") and the NZ Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority ("Medsafe"). The agreement was cancelled in 2007. This article explores the possibility that the ANZTPA in its original form, by inheriting significant 'linkage evergreening' obligations imposed on the TGA under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement ("AUSFTA"), may significantly impact upon the regulation of medicines and medical devices (as well as blood products) in New Zealand. It explores the related legal obligations and their likely consequences for New Zealand, particularly quality, safety and efficacy and cost-effectiveness evaluation processes in this area, such as those of The New Zealand Pharmaceutical Management Agency ("Pharmac").