The Parliament needs to be given enough time to go through the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations, just like the US Congress, said PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

“We must ensure that the text is fully disclosed and members of the August House are provided sufficient time to scrutinize and deliberate the treaty,” she said in a statement today.

“If the American congress is given 90 days; Malaysia should not be left behind in strengthening parliamentary democracy through proper scrutiny of trade agreements - especially one that is expected to run more than hundreds of pages, involves 12 nations and affect Malaysia in a multitude of areas other than just trade,” she added.

She stressed that Malaysia must stand to benefit from the TPPA negotiations and Malaysians protected.

Nurul also argued that the public and civil society in general should be given access to the treaty’s official text.

She said this is because the people need to be protected from the concerns on medical costs, protection of intellectual property and status of the state owned enterprises like Khazanah, Petronas and Tenaga Nasional Berhad.

On Monday, Malaysia and 11 other countries reached a deal in the TPPA negotiations, Reuters reported.

The deal could reshape industries and influence everything from the price of cheese to the cost of cancer treatments.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership would affect 40 percent of the world economy and would stand as a legacy-defining achievement for US President Barack Obama, if it is ratified by Congress.

Although the complex deal sets tariff reduction schedules on hundreds of imported items from pork and beef in Japan to pickup trucks in the United States, one issue had threatened to derail talks until the end – the length of the monopolies awarded to the developers of new biological drugs.

Negotiating teams had been deadlocked over the question of the minimum period of protection to the rights for data used to make biologic drugs, made by companies including Pfizer Inc, Roche Group’s Genentech and Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

The United States had sought 12 years of protection to encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in expensive biological treatments like Genentech’s cancer treatment Avastin. Australia, New Zealand and public health groups had sought a period of five years to bring down drug costs and the burden on state-subsidized medical programs.

Meanwhile, International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the TPPA negotiations agreed to take into consideration almost all of Malaysia's concerns and sensitivities such as government procurement, state-owned enterprises and Bumiputera issues.

He said elements of flexibility accorded to Malaysia included longer transition periods and differential treatment for the country's sensitive areas.

Mustapa represented Malaysia at the TPPA negotiations with 11 other parties, namely the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.