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14 November 2017Copyright

IP provisions suspended in newly agreed TPP deal

A group of 11 countries has agreed to push ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement despite the US’s withdrawal, but has suspended some IP provisions.

The TPP deal, renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Saturday, November 11, covers Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The chapter on IP saw the most changes, with a number of provisions being suspended. These included the copyright extension to 70 years after an author or artist’s death and rules on the length of protection afforded to data exclusivity rights for biological drugs.

Safe harbour provisions for internet service providers and the provision on countries banning the manufacture of boxes that decode encrypted satellite signals were removed. Also withdrawn were sections on technological protection measures and rights management information.

The Asian Trade Centre, self-described as the “thought leader” for trade in Asia, said there were two main reasons for the IP section having the most extensive changes.

“First, many of the more advanced provisions in the IP chapter were included at the insistence of US negotiators and were quite unpopular in the original agreement,” it said.

In January, US President Donald Trump abandoned his country’s involvement in the TPP deal, and announced plans to begin renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada.

“With the withdrawal of the US, the remaining members had less incentive to keep these rules,” the centre added.

The second reason, the Asian Trade Centre said, was that while Japan fought hard to keep the TPP members from making overall changes, it managed to confine the bulk of the suspensions to the IP chapter.

The original IP chapter was the most substantial portion of the agreement, running to 75 pages, the centre explained, adding that even with approximately 18 pages now cut, the IP commitments in the TPP11 remain extensive.

A ministerial statement from the Canadian government said ministers agree that the CPTPP maintains the high standards, overall balance and integrity of the TPP while ensuring the commercial and other interests of all participants and “preserving our inherent right to regulate, including the flexibility of the parties to set legislative and regulatory priorities”.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation noted that IP “simply isn’t an appropriate topic to be dealt with in trade negotiations”.

It added: “The decision to exclude some of the most dangerous threats to the public’s rights to free expression, access to knowledge, and privacy online is a big win for users, if indeed the TPP countries follow through with that decision, as now seems likely.

“However, the TPP was, and remains, a bad model for internet regulation.”

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