A former United States ambassador says the secrecy of the TPP talks has been concerning.

The 12 countries negotiating the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, including New Zealand, are meeting in Hawaii this week in the hope of finalising the deal.

Supporters of the deal say it offers huge economic potential to member countries but critics say it is heavily weighted in favor of big American corporations and will undermine national sovereignty.

Curtis Chin, who represented the US at the Asia Development Bank from 2007 to 2010, told CNBC he hoped they would finalise the deal, but said the process had been problematic.

“We don’t see what they’re negotiating, and one of the big concerns is what is going on in Hawaii.

“What is it that they’re negotiating regarding supports for agriculture or intellectual property rights?

“But indeed, once it’s done people do have the chance to see what’s done and what is written.”

However, director of the Australia-Japan Research Centre at the Australian National University, Shiro Armstrong, that the TPP was not yet a done deal.

“There’s a real risk of Canada not being able to join – falling out of the end because it’s an election year in Canada this year.

“A lot of these countries come to these negotiations with sensitive sectors in agriculture that they want to protect and exclude from negations.”

“There’s a risk that is Canada is left out, New Zealand might be left out as well.”
The Business News Network reported Canadian dairy farmers has just rushed five representatives to the sidelines of the TPP talks in a bid to preserve its tariff-protected dairy industry.