TPP: Full text expected to be revealed in a month - Mustapa

According to International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, it needs to go through several legal and approval processes before it can be implemented.

“The formulation will be finalised end of October. And then for Malaysia, there will be cost-benefit analyses. Beginning tomorrow, we will provide our latest standings to the research teams of PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS).

“Some two weeks after the document is revealed to the masses, these two research teams will wrap-up their studies,” he told a media conference at MITI here today.

Mustapa said the decision-making process on whether Malaysia will sign the TPP will commence about two months after the full text is revealed to the public.

“The decision will be made through votes and debates in Parliament,” he said.

However, Mustapa said under the laws of Malaysia, the vote in Parliament is not conclusive.

“Even if parliamentarians agree, we still have a two-year ratification process. During this time, we will study some legal aspects, for example if a law needs to be amended and such.

“The deal will only come into force after the ratification. We expect this to be around early 2018,” he said.

At the same time, without divulging details, Mustapa said Malaysia had done its best in advocating the interest of Bumiputera, state-owned enterprises and the government procurement process, adding that he was satisfied with the compromised reached.

On Monday, Pacific trade ministers from a dozen countries reached a landmark deal after negotiations of more than five years concluded between the TPP nations -- the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The TPP is the biggest trade agreement in history, reducing tariffs and other forms of protectionism in countries that make up about 40 percent of the global economy.