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The Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry has published a brief outlining how it views the current state of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.  It believes that 14 of the 29 chapters of the agreement, It considers the negotiation of 14 of the 29 chapters to be “substantially closed.”  On the other hand, it says that negotiations in the areas of intellectual property, state owned enterprises, labor, and environment are “difficult.

For these sensitive issues, options that have been put forth have been “watered-down commitments; longer transition periods for implementation; limiting commitments through the Non-Conforming Lists; and absolute carve-outs.”  The brief signals that Malaysia would be willing to consider other options to move forward as well.

Click here for the full TPP Brief

Regarding the “challenges” for Malaysia related to intellectual property, the brief says:

“IPR issues revolve around access to medicine and healthcare, increase in pharmaceutical prices, and longer copyright protection term

“Malaysia has strongly raised objections towards proposals that could delay the entry of generic drugs into the market and result in high cost in the prices of medicines.

“Malaysia is working with TPP Members for an outcome that would strike a balance between the continued need to allow access to affordable drugs and healthcare and sufficient incentives for drug companies to innovate.”

Malaysia will host the next TPP negotiating round from July 15-25 at the Sutera Harbour Resort in Kota Kinabalu.  The stakeholder sessions will be held on the 20th.  Registration and further information is available here.