The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) cost-benefit report, which is being prepared by the government, is expected to be completed in early July, before it can be tabled to the Cabinet and Parliament.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the government would only decide whether to participate in the agreement after getting the Cabinet's and Parliament's approval.

"We (government) are aware that the people demand transparency and that is why the study that we carried out which is expected to be completed by early July will be tabled to the Parliament for debate.

"We will make the decision based on this study whether we should participate in the agreement or not," he said when winding-up the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal speech at the Dewan Rakyat, Monday.

TPPA is a free trade agreement being negotiated by the member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) - Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and Vietnam.

On speculations that prices of medicines would soar if Malaysia signed the agreement, Mustapa said it was still under negotiations and no agreement had been reached with other countries in relation to the proposed price of health products.

"A lot of speculation about medicine prices going up, but there is no agreement and Malaysia still has not agreed with any proposals relating to medicines," he said.

The Member of Parliament for Jeli said if the TPPA was signed, it might affect the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country, but the government had proposed a 10-year period to be given to sensitive sectors before the market was fully opened.

The sitting continues Tuesday.