How will the TPP impact your business?

Earlier this month the representatives of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam finalised the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement

Given the sensitive nature of the topics discussed, the outcomes of the negotiations remain somewhat of a mystery to many Australians. As with all high level negotiations there are bound to be those who benefit and other who don’t fare as well.

We thought we would relay a few of the main outcomes below, but if you think this will impact you, take a look at the full details from the Australian Government page. They have also created this great microsite with some real examples of how this is will impact businesses such as manufacturing, agriculture and FMCG.

One of the reasons the TPP has come about is that establishing export markets abroad has been incredibly difficult to date for SMEs, and this agreement aims to make this much easier as it specifically recognises the significance of SMEs in overseas trade. Some of the key outcomes were:

• Saving on admin costs – SMEs will be able to trade under one set of rules for 12 Asia-Pacific countries as opposed to the existing multiple bilateral FTAs
• New rules encouraging SMEs participation in government procurement in all 12 TPP countries
• Red tape reduction when bidding for Australian Government contracts essentially streamlining the procurement processes under $200,000 for SMEs and government

TPP parties are also aiming to assist SMEs to take advantage of the agreement, so if you feel that this agreement could have big benefits for your business read up on all aspects of the agreement and start using it to grow your business.