Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition

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I.  INTRODUCTION

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an international investment agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The CPTPP is the successor agreement to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after the United States withdrew in January 2017. The CPTPP was signed by the above 11 countries on 8 March 2018 and entered into force on 30 December 2018.  

Like its predecessor the TPP, the CPTPP is one of the most comprehensive trade agreements ever negotiated with respect to scope, coverage and depth. It represents the culmination of each Pacific Rim member’s pursuit of trade liberalization and economic integration.

Like other mega-regional international investment agreements (IIA), the CPTPP attempts to balance a number of competing interests and objectives. These include the development of regulatory coherence, safeguarding investor protection and the unifying of dispute settlement mechanisms. Unlike other IIAs however, the CPTPP seeks to achieve this within a group of diverse states comprised of vastly different economies, cultures and development levels. In the past, investment treaties have been either regional in scope, for example with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),  or focused on specific sectors, such as the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).  The CPTPP however retains coverage over a wide range of sectors. Like the TPP, the CPTPP is progressive in that it extends beyond the removal of barriers to trade and investment, but also to the setting of binding commitments (labor and environment) and standards (digital trade and e-commerce), uniform obligations and regulations of specific sectors (financial services) and industries (supply chains, goods certification, rules of origin). The CPTPP is also comprehensive in that it sets provisions across the life of an investment, from the acquisition stage to disposition. In terms of economic reach, the CPTPP’s current 11 Pacific Rim members is estimated to cover 500 million people and account for a combined GDP of $US10.6 trillion, around 14% of total global trade.