WASHINGTON – Robert B. Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative, and Brunei Darussalams Minister of Trade and Natural Resources Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib signed a framework agreement on trade and investment at Blair House to promote trade and investment between the two countries. SUVA, October 16 (Xinhua) — Fiji and the United States on Friday signed the Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment (TIFA), the first such agreement between the two countries. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); in Spanish: Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; In French: North American Free Trade Agreement, ALNA) is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico and the United States, which creates a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994 and replaced the 1988 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. THE NAFTA trade bloc is one of the largest trading blocs in the world, after gross domestic product. “This TIFA will strengthen trade between our nations and demonstrate our commitment to help Brunei Darussalam diversify its economy,” zoellick said. “We welcome Brunei Darussalam`s positive response to President Bush`s “Companies for ASEAN” initiative, as evidenced by his rapid efforts to conclude an TIFA.
We look forward to working closely with Brunei Darussalam to further strengthen our economic relations at the bilateral level and with ASEAN. A Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment (TIFA) is a trade pact that establishes a framework for expanding trade and resolving open disputes between countries. The Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment (TIFA) established a Joint Council for the Extension and Liberalization of Trade and Investment, including in areas such as intellectual property, information and communication technologies, biotechnology policy, tourism, increased participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in trade and investment, and capacity building. The two sides also agreed to coordinate in regional and multilateral for a, including to prepare for the completion of the Doha Development Agenda. Trade relations between the United States and Uruguay have grown considerably in recent years. In 2002, Uruguay and the United States established a Joint Trade and Investment Commission (JCTI) to exchange information on a wide range of economic issues. The Commission used the two countries as an important mechanism to improve and expand their trade relations and facilitated successful negotiations on the bilateral investment treaty between the United States and Uruguay (ILO), which came into force on 1 November 2006. The United States and Uruguay signed the TIFA between the United States and Uruguay on January 25, 2007.
TIFA has established the U.S. and Uruguay`s Trade and Investment Council (ICT) and serves as a mechanism for deepening the dialogue on trade and investment. On October 2, 2008, the two governments signed TIFA protocols that cover key commitments to facilitate trade and public participation in trade and the environment. TiFA contains an annex that sets out a work programme inviting both governments to address issues such as bilateral trade liberalization and bilateral investment, intellectual property rights, regulatory issues, information and communications technologies and e-commerce, trade facilitation, trade and technical capacity building. , trade in services, public procurement and health and health protection cooperation. The appendix provides for ICT to add other points to the work programme. In implementing TIFA, both sides reaffirmed their determination to expand economic opportunities between Uruguay and the United States, while coordinating their efforts to promote greater trade liberalization by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
