A New Kid on the Block: Embedding the Principles of Regulatory Coherence in the TPP

• In Event: The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Expanding Trade, or Constraining Growth?

Abstract

Whether markets are open depends not only on what happens at the border but on distinct policy choices made by governments “behind the border”. The presence of chapters on regulatory convergence in recent mega-regional agreements currently under negotiation, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), represent a major development in the field of international trade, embedding new disciplines in preferential trade agreements that can be expected over time to inform the evolution of global norms at the World Trade Organization.
This paper will examine the important questions that the introduction of this new discipline in the TPP (and generally in trade agreements) leaves: What obligations does a state assume when it commits to disciplines on regulatory convergence? Is it necessary to amend domestic legislation? What enforcement means may Parties to a treaty exercise in respect of the commitments made by other Parties? What are the differences, both substantive and procedural, between the path of “regulatory coherence” reportedly being taken in a chapter of the TPP and the “regulatory cooperation” track followed by the recently concluded Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement (CETA)?
Exploring the possible positive and negative effects of these new disciplines, the paper concludes that unless we have a proper understanding and definition of regulatory convergence, substantive and procedural obligations will be difficult to implement without raising legitimate concerns about the distinction between “rule-making” and “rule-taking” nations in global governance.

Author

• Rodrigo Polanco Lazo, University of Chile, World Trade Institute