KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will be amending 18 laws in its efforts to implement its Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) commitment.
International Trade and Industry secretary-general Datuk J. Jayasiri said the country is currently on track to ratify the TPPA before it takes effect in 2018.
"18 laws have been identified. There are different stages of preparation.
"They will be sent to parliament for amendments. Once we get all these (laws) amended, we will decide on the ratification," he said at The King’s Discourse on the TPPA here, organised by King’s College London Alumni Malaysia and Columbia University Alumni Association.
“We are on track for now. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly," he added.
The TPPA is currently awaiting ratification to enter into force. All 12 signatories of the TPPA have 24 months after the signing of the finalised proposal on February 4 in Auckland, New Zealand, to ratify the agreement.
The 12 signatories include Malaysia, the United States (US), Japan, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and Brunei.
There were concerns that the TPPA might falter as the new US presidential candidates are not buying into the idea of the agreement.
Jayasiri said, without wanting to speculate, that the TPPA will still come into force even without ratification from the United States, as long as six countries accounting for 85 per cent of the signatories' GDP ratify the agreement.
“What is known is that the US administration is making preparations to get approval from Congress so that they are in a position to ratify it,” he said.