(Nov 13): After it is enforced, Malaysia will be still be able to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) if Putrajaya feels that it is not getting its money’s worth, said Cabinet member Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Mustapa, who is international trade and industry minister, said all Putrajaya had to do was give a six-month notice to pull out of the trade pact, which currently comprised 11 other countries.

“We can pull out at any time. We just give a six-month notice. We are not going to get sanctioned and the country is not going to be attacked.

“We will just lose out of any benefits of being in it,” said Mustapa during a live talk show called “SoalJawab” on TV3 today.

Mustapa said if Malaysia signed on to TPPA next year, there would be an additional two years of ratification, where Putrajaya had to amend local laws to suit the treaty’s terms.

The treaty would only be enforced after the ratification process.

Alternatively, Putrajaya could also not choose to go through with the trade pact by not completing the ratification process.

Putrajaya has taken a lot of praise and brickbats for agreeing to join the United States-driven TPPA, which comprises 11 other countries.

If Malaysia signs it next year it would have access to a market with 800 million consumers and countries which produce about 40% of total world economic output or Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The pact goes beyond a traditional free trade agreement (FTA) which lowers trade barriers such as duties and taxes. The TPPA also promises to rewrite laws on how all member countries do business.

One example of this last feature is how it opens a country’s government to lawsuits from companies claiming that a nation’s laws have interfered with them from doing business.

This system, called the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), has led TPPA critics to claim that the treaty was a threat to a country’s sovereignty.

In response to these claims, Mustapa said the country was already familiar with the system as it was present in eight of the 15 FTAs it has signed with other countries.

ISDS has also been used by Malaysian companies to sue two different foreign governments, while the Malaysian government has also been taken court, Mustapa said.

The system itself has been improved for the TPPA to ensure that there are no frivolous suits against government. Safeguards have been put in place to ensure that certain policies such as those related to public health and security cannot be challenged by corporations.

The ISDS, he said, would also protect Malaysian companies who invested overseas.

“We have taken the criticisms into consideration. We have done our best to protect the government and balance that with the demand from companies who want assurances when they invest here," he said. – The Malaysian Insider