In light of the agreement reached by the 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on October 5, Vice Premier Chang San-cheng today convened the TPP/RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) task force and decided to immediately activate the overall action plan for promoting TPP entry and to go all-out to join the organization.
To complete preparations for TPP entry, for more than two years 16 ministerial chiefs or deputies had served as conveners of their respective agencies' TPP/RCEP task forces under the supervision of the Executive Yuan, Chang stated.
TPP negotiations have now been completed. The agreement is expected to take effect in 2017, though it is hard to predict when exactly it will do so because the member nations have varying legal and political environments. If Taiwan cannot join in the second round of negotiations by the time the TPP comes into force, the nation's trade strategy and deployment will suffer a serious blow. Therefore, the nation must immediately take further actions to ensure its future entry.
The Executive Yuan stated that in order to achieve the goal of joining the TPP when it opens to new members, an overall action plan has been formulated to expedite and integrate all negotiation tasks. This plan will immediately proceed in four aspects—updating impact appraisals and extending to more items, speeding up structural harmonization and responses, conducting in-depth domestic communication, and gaining member nations' support—with a specific issue selected every month for intensive discussion by relevant ministries and agencies. Meanwhile the National Development Council will be responsible for relaxing relevant laws and regulations as well as other areas that require interministerial coordination.
Joining the TPP would not only bring the nation economic benefits but also have great significance for its Asia-Pacific strategy, the Executive Yuan stated. Incorporating the strengths of both the private and public sectors, the Executive Yuan has the determination and confidence to achieve the goal of entry to the organization in the second round of negotiations.