Dr Dennis Novy, an economist from the University of Warwick and a former House of Lords adviser on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, offers reaction to the new Trans-Pacific Partnership that was agreed on Monday.

He said:

"The United States, Japan and 10 other countries have agreed on a new major trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. Recent negotiations in Atlanta have concluded successfully. Now it is up to national parliaments and governments to ratify the agreement. So the battle is not over yet. Elections are coming up in Canada, and the US Congress is increasingly hostile. The resignation of Speaker Boehner does not help. But President Obama sees the trade deal as a major part of his legacy in the White House.

"In any case, this is a major breakthrough. The world of trade agreements is changing. We have moved away from deals brokered by the World Trade Organisation. The WTO has struggled to pull off any major deal since it started its Doha Round in 2001. Instead, we are seeing so-called mega-regionals where a lot of countries in a particular region come together.

"TPP also has implications for Europe. The European Union has been negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, with the United States for a while now. With TPP in an advanced stage, attention will turn increasingly towards TTIP and Europe. Britain in particular stands to gain from TTIP.

"However, TTIP is less comprehensive in many ways. It will not include controversial negotiations over labour and environmental standards. But nevertheless, a lot of people in Europe, led by the anti-globalisation movement, are sceptical because they feel that some elements of TTIP are a sell-out to big corporations."

Notes to Editors:

Dr Dennis Novy is available for interviews today. Contact Lee Page, Communications Manager, Press and Policy Office, The University of Warwick. Tel: +44 (0)2476 574 255, Mob: +44 (0)7920 531 221. Email: l.page@warwick.ac.uk.

Watch one of Dr Novy's previous TV interviews with Sky News:

Contact

Lee Page, Communications Manager

Tel: +44 (0)2476 574 255.

Mob: +44 (0)7920 531 221.

Email: l.page@warwick.ac.uk