Chronology of events and key milestones

Looking for a brief recap of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating rounds? Take a look at the round updates for key
information about trade topics, trade issues and new developments that were discussed during each round.

TPP Ministerial Meeting: Atlanta (September 30 to October 5, 2015)

On October 5, TPP Ministers announced that they have concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A TPP officials
meeting, September 26-29, preceded the TPP ministerial meeting. A joint statement by TPP Ministers as well as a joint summary of
the Agreements chapters were issued following conclusion.

TPP Officials Meeting: Guam (May 14 28, 2015)

On May 28, 2015, TPP officials concluded two-weeks of meetings in Tamuning, Guam, where negotiations continued to advance.
Among the topics discussed in Guam were intellectual property, textiles, rules of origin, investment, state-owned enterprises, labour,
e-commerce and market access. The dates and location of the next meeting have not yet been confirmed.

TPP Officials Meeting: Maryland (April 23 26, 2015)

TPP officials met in Maryland from April 23-26, where discussions were held on market access, intellectual property, rules of origin,
investment and textiles, among others. Negotiators met in plurilateral, bilateral and small group formats with the objective of
advancing remaining text and market access issues.

TPP Officials Meeting: Hawaii (March 9 15, 2015)

TPP officials met in Hawaii, United-States, from March 9 to March 15 to advance remaining technical issues. Market access,
intellectual property, rules of origin, state owned enterprises, and textiles where among the topics discussed. Negotiators will
continue discussions through intersessional work in the coming weeks.

TPP Officials Meeting: New York City (January 26-February 1)

TPP officials met in New York City from January 26-February 1 with the goal of further advance negotiations. Progress was made in
several areas, including on market access for goods. Among the topics discussed were intellectual property, investment, nonconforming measures, state-owned enterprises, rules of origin, environment, and financial services.

TPP Officials Meeting: Washington, D.C. (December 2014)

On December 12, TPP officials concluded 5 days of meetings in Washington, D.C., where progress was achieved across several
areas of the text. Among the topics discussed in Washington were legal and institutional issues, textiles, rules of origin, state-owned
enterprises, environment, goods market access, technical barriers to trade, and e-commerce.

TPP Leaders and Ministers Meeting: Beijing, China (November 2014)

TPP Ministers met on November 8, prior to a TPP Leaders meeting on November 10, in Beijing, China.TPP Ministers provided a
report to Leaders on the status of negotiations. TPP Leaders reaffirmed the importance of the TPP as a regional agreement that will
bring economic growth and prosperity and support job creation in all TPP countries and instructed Ministers and negotiators to
continue their work towards concluding an ambitious, comprehensive and high-standard agreement.

TPP Ministerial Meeting: Sydney (October 2014)

Following a meeting at the level of TPP Chief Negotiators from October 19-24, in Canberra, Australia, Ministers and Heads of
Delegation from TPP countries met in Sydney from October 25-27, 2014 to continue to lay the groundwork towards an ambitious,
comprehensive, high-standard and balanced agreement. Considerable progress was made across several areas and negotiators
will continue their work, guided by the instructions provided by Ministers. Among the issues discussed were intellectual property,
environment, legal, market access, state-owned enterprises, and investment. The dates and location of the next TPP meeting are
still being determined.

TPP Officials Meeting: Hanoi, Vietnam (September 2014)

On September 10, TPP Chief negotiators and working groups concluded 10 days of intensive meetings in Hanoi, Vietnam, where
they narrowed gaps in a number of outstanding text issues.
Canada is committed to opening new markets throughout the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region in order to create jobs and
opportunities for Canadians in every region of the country.
Progress was made on state-owned enterprises, intellectual property, investment, rules of origin, transparency and anti-corruption,
and labour. Chief negotiators also advanced work in areas of market access, including goods, services/investment, financial
services, and government procurement.
TPP countries agreed in Hanoi to continue to work to advance negotiations in order to achieve a comprehensive, high-standard
agreement. The dates and location of the next TPP meeting are still being determined.

TPP Officials Meeting (July 2014)

The Department hosted a TPP officials meeting from July 3 to July 12, 2014 in Ottawa. This meeting followed previous officials
meetings that Canada has participated in since joining the TPP in October 2012.
Chief negotiators met from July 4 to July 12 to discuss labour, state-owned enterprises, services, investment, and all areas of
market access, among others. These discussions ran concurrent with a small number of working-level, technical group meetings
held with the objective of advancing remaining rules. The working groups that met included Intellectual Property (IP) from July 6-10,
Investment from July 6-8, Stated Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from July 9-12 and Rules of Origins (ROO)/Textiles from July 3-9.
Canada held several bilateral meetings to advance our interests across several areas of the negotiations.
No ministerial meeting occurred on the margin of the officials meeting in Ottawa.

TPP Ministerial Meeting: Singapore (May 2014)

TPP countries held a Ministerial meeting from May 19-20 in Singapore, meeting in plenary and bilateral formats over the two-day
period. Ministers and Heads of Delegation made progress in market access discussions and advanced outstanding rules issues.
Ministers and Heads of Delegation also agreed on a pathway for intensified engagement. Prior to the meeting, chief negotiators and
subject matter experts met in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from May 12-15.

TPP Ministerial Meeting: Singapore (February 2014)

Following a meeting at the level of TPP Chief Negotiators from February 17-21 in Singapore, TPP Ministers held four days of
plenary and bilateral meetings. Ministers engaged in productive discussions and were able to identify a path forward for resolving
remaining issues towards the goal of concluding a comprehensive and balanced agreement as soon as possible.

TPP Ministerial Meeting: Singapore (December 2013)

Building on TPP Ministerial and Leaders meetings in Bali in October, TPP Ministers gathered in Singaporefrom December 7-10,
2013 for four days of intensive plenary, bilateral and small group meetings, supported by Chief Negotiators and key experts. The
meetings in Singapore enabled Ministers to make progress in several areas of the text, including intellectual property, state-owned
enterprises, environment, financial services, investment, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, and legal and institutional issues.
Market access discussions (goods, services and investment, financial services, temporary entry, and government procurement)
were also productive and TPP Ministers agreed to continue to work to finalize remaining issues (See Joint TPP Ministers
Statement).

Chief Negotiators Meeting: Salt Lake City, Utah

Chief Negotiators met from November 19-24 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Chief Negotiators were accompanied by a number of
negotiating leads, and worked to advance work across several areas, including in Intellectual Property, Services, Temporary Entry,
Government Procurement, Rules of Origin, Textiles, Customs, Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary Measures, Environment, Investment,
Goods Market Access, Agriculture, E-Commerce, SOEs, Technical Barriers to Trade, Financial Services, and Labour.

TPP Leaders and Ministers Meeting: Bali, Indonesia

Several important TPP meetings were held on the margins of the 2013 APEC Summit in Bali. TPP Chief Negotiators met from
October 1-2, prior to a TPP Ministerial Meeting on October 3, 4 and 6. TPP Ministers reported on the status of negotiations to TPP
Leaders, in support of a TPP Leaders meeting on October 8. TPP Leaders reviewed progress in identifying creative and pragmatic
solutions to outstanding issues, while discussing how best to achieve an ambitious, balanced, 21st century agreement in line with
the goals established by TPP members in 2011.

Round 19: Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

The 19th Round of TPP negotiations took place in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, from August 22 to 30, 2013. Negotiating groups
met on the following issues: good market access, rules of origin/customs/textiles, investment and competition, non-conforming
measures for services and investment, financial services, intellectual property rights, environment, government procurement, and
temporary entry for business persons. See the TPP Chief Negotiators Joint Statement.
TPP trade ministers met August 22 and 23rd in Brunei and issued a Joint Press Statement.
Round 19 also included a dedicated program for stakeholders on August 27th. The event included presentations and time for
informal discussions with chief negotiators. Canada participated in these stakeholder activities.

Round 18: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

The 18th Round of TPP negotiations took place in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, from July 15 to 25, 2013. Negotiating groups met on
the following issues: investment and competition, financial services, rules of origin/customs/textiles, intellectual property rights, nonconforming measures for services and investment, environment, goods market access, technical barriers to trade, government
procurement, legal and institutional issues (including transparency and anticorruption), temporary entry for business persons, and
electronic commerce. Japan formally joined the TPP negotiations on July 23rd. See theTPP Chief Negotiators Joint Statement.
Consistent with the practice of previous TPP negotiating rounds, Round 18 in Kota Kinabalu included a dedicated program for
stakeholders on Saturday, July 20th, with presentations and a briefing session with chief negotiators. Canada participated in these
stakeholder activities.

Roun
d

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

Dates

Location

US Trade Representative's summary

Melbourne,Victoria,
Australia

The negotiating groups that met included industrial goods, agriculture, sanitary and
phytosanitary standards, telecommunications, financial services, customs, rules of
origin, government procurement, environment, and trade capacity building.
Negotiators agreed to draft papers in preparation for the second round of
negotiations.[43]

San
Francisco,California,
USA

This round included "determining the architecture for market access negotiations,
deciding the relationship between the TPP and existing FTAs among the negotiating
partners, addressing "horizontal" issues such as small business priorities,
regulatory coherence, and other issues that reflect the way businesses operate and
workers interact in the 21st century, and proceeding toward the tabling of text on all
chapters of the agreement in the third negotiating round, scheduled for October in
Brunei."[44]

Brunei

This round included "meetings on agriculture, services, investment, government

procurement, competition, environment, and labor. The groups focused on the
objectives that they had set for this round: preparation of consolidated text and
proposals for cooperation. Negotiations will continue through Saturday, with groups
on telecommunications, e-commerce, textiles, customs, technical barriers to trade,
and trade capacity building beginning Friday."[45]

Auckland, New
Zealand

In the 4th round talks, the negotiating countries "began work on trade in goods,
financial services, customs, labor, and intellectual property. They also discussed
cross-cutting issues, including how to ensure that small- and medium-sized
enterprises can take advantage of the TPP, promoting greater connectivity and the
participation of U.S. firms in Asia-Pacific supply chains and enhancing the
coherence of the regulatory systems of the TPP countries to make trade across the
region more seamless."[46]

Santiago, Chile

In Santiago, the negotiating countries "made further progress in developing the

agreement's legal texts, which will spell out the rights and obligations each country
will take on and that will cover all aspects of trade and investment relationships. The
teams carefully reviewed the text proposals made by each country, ensuring
understanding of each other's proposals so negotiations could advance. With
consolidated negotiating texts in most areas, partners began seeking to narrow
differences and to consider the interests and concerns of each country."[47]

24 March
1 April 2011

Singapore

In Singapore, "the United States and TPP countries made substantial headway
toward a key goal of developing the legal texts of the agreement, which include
commitments covering all aspects of their trade and investment relationship.
Recognizing the priority of this negotiation as well as the challenge of negotiating a
regional agreement with nine countries, each country began showing the type of
flexibility that will be needed to successfully conclude the negotiation. As a result,
the teams were able to narrow the gaps in their positions on a wide range of issues
across the more than 25 chapters of the agreement."[48]

1524 June
2011

Ho Chi Minh City,

Vietnam

1519
March 2010

1418 June
2010

58 October
2010

610
December
2010

1418
February
2011

In Vietnam, "among the issues on which the teams had particularly productive
discussions were the new cross-cutting issues that will feature for the first time in
the TPP. After consulting internally on the U.S. text tabled at the sixth round, they

furthered their efforts to find common ground on the regulatory coherence text
intended to make the regulatory systems of their countries operate in a more
consistent and seamless manner and avoid the types of regulatory barriers that are
increasingly among the key obstacles to trade. The teams also had constructive
discussions on approaches to development in the TPP and the importance of
ensuring that the agreement serves to close the development gap among TPP
members."[49]

8th

615
September
2011

Chicago,Illinois, USA

"Negotiators from the nine TPP partner countries Australia, Brunei Darussalam,
Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States
are reporting good progress early in the eighth round of talks, expected to last
through 15 September. Negotiating groups that have already begun meetings
include services, financial services, investment, customs, telecommunications,
intellectual property rights (IPR), government procurement, sanitary and
phytosanitary measures, and environment. Numerous negotiating teams are also
holding bilateral meetings."[50]

"During this round, negotiators built upon progress made in previous rounds and
pressed forward toward the goal of reaching the broad outlines of an ambitious,
jobs-focused agreement by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders'
meeting in Honolulu, HI next month. At APEC, President Obama and his
counterparts from the other eight TPP countries will take stock of progress to date
and discuss next steps."[51]

9th

2229
October
2011

Lima, Peru

10th

59
December
2011

Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia[52]

11th

29 March
2012

Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia[53]

12th

818 May
2012

Dallas,Texas, USA[54]

13th

210 July
2012

San Diego, California,

USA[55]

14th

615
September
2012

Leesburg, Virginia,
USA[56]

15th

312
December
2012

Auckland, New
Zealand[57]

16th

413 March
2013

Singapore[58]

17th

1524 May
2013

Lima, Peru[59]

18th

1524 July
2013

Kota Kinabalu,
Malaysia[60]

19th

2330
August 2013

Bandar Seri
Begawan, Brunei

"explored how to develop a mutually-acceptable package, including possible

landing zones on remaining sensitive and challenging issues and sequencing of
issues in the final talks. Particular areas of focus have included matters related to
market access for goods, services/investment, financial services, and
government procurement as well as the texts covering intellectual property,
competition, and environmental issues. We also discussed the remaining
outstanding issues on labor, dispute settlement, and other areas. "[61]

After the 19th round of formal meetings, negotiations stopped taking the form of official rounds, but other meetings, such as Chief
Negotiators Meetings and Ministers Meetings, continue.
Type of meeting

Dates

Location

US Trade Representative's summary

Chief Negotiators
Meeting

1821 September
2013

Washington, DC[62]

Ministerial meeting

3-? Oct 2013

Bali, Indonesia

"Environment, intellectual property, and state-owned

enterprises."[63]

28 October 1
November 2013

Mexico City, Mexico

"Rules of Origin" [64]

30 October 2
November 2013

Washington, D.C.

"Government Procurement" [64]

4 7 November
2013

Santiago, Chile

"State-Owned Enterprises" [64]

6 9 November
2013

Washington, D.C.

"Investment" [64]

12 14 November
2013

Washington, D.C.

"Legal and Institutional Issues" [64]

12 18 November

Salt Lake City, UT

"Rules of Origin" [64]

1924 November
2013

Salt Lake City, USA

"Chief Negotiators and Key Experts" [64]

Chief Negotiators
Meeting

Ministers Meeting

710 December
2013

Singapore

Ministers Meeting

2125 February
2014

Singapore

Ministers Meeting

1820 May 2014

Singapore

Chief negotiators
meeting

313 July 2014

Ottawa, Canada (changed from

Vancouver)[65][66][67]

Chief negotiators
meeting

110 September
2014

Hanoi, Vietnam[68]

Ministers Meeting

2427 October
2014

Sydney, Australia[69]

Leaders and
Ministers Meeting

November 2014

Beijing, China[68]

Chief negotiators
meeting

812 December
2014

Washington, D.C.[68]

Chief negotiators
meeting

26 January 1
February

New York City, USA[68]

Chief negotiators
meeting

915 March 2015

Hawaii[68][70]

Chief negotiators
meeting

2326 April 2015

Maryland[68]

Chief negotiators
meeting

1428 May 2015[68]

Guam

Ministerial meeting

2431 July 2015

Hawaii, United States[72]

Chief negotiators

2630 September

Atlanta, Georgia[73]

meeting

2015

Ministerial meeting cancelled over uncertainty

whether the United States would pass TPA authority.
[71]