Labour Chapter in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA): Implication on Malaysia Labour Law

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a recent trade agreement after negotiated for decades. TPPA was very sensation due to the new world trade movement lead by the United States. TPPA also seen as the greatest trade agreement in the 21st century that will bring major changes to TPP Member States in various sectors, mostly on economic, trade and investment fronts. Issues arising from the TPPA are not only in the domain of trade, but also intervenes other important aspects such as labour standards, the environment and intellectual property rights. In turn, this will have implications for our current standards and legal framework of TPP member states. A significant problem, and the focus of this paper, is the the impact of the TPPA on existing Malaysian labour laws. Whether Malaysia could maintain the existing framework for labour or does this agreement will require for necessary amendments need to be done in realizing the effectiveness of the TPPA? This article discusses the implications of Chapter No. 19 of TPPA (Labour Chapter) onto Malaysian labour laws resulting from the signed TPPA with other 11 Member States. Methodology used in this article is theoretical analysis based on primary and secondary sources. The interim review found that several sets of labour laws in Malaysia must be amended and the Government of Malaysia should aware with facing of any possible constraints and challenges to comply with international labour standards.