TPP must be analyzed before being ratified: ECLAC

Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said Tuesday that it was necessary to carefully analyze the scope and influence that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will bring to the region before it is ratified.

"It is clear the TPP will bring many opportunities...but we must also see which areas present risks and which present opportunities," she told a press conference on the ECLAC's new report titled "Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2015. The regional trade crisis: assessment and outlook".

"Public opinion must be clear on what was negotiated (as part of the TPP) and what its impact will be," she added.

However, the main contents of the TPP remain still a secret to the public.

Mexico, for example, will have the opportunity to get closer to the U.S. while Chile may have a different focus.

"In analyzing the case of Chile in the TPP, China will remain more important than the TTP for Chile in terms of exports. However, the political decision to join the agreement will enable Chile expand its links to the U.S. at the same time," said Barcena.

"Chile's foreign trade with China represents 23 percent of its total while the TTP countries represent 19 percent. Chile is now carefully studying where it will gain or lose within the TPP," she said.

While the TPP was agreed upon in Atlanta on Oct. 5, the final agreement must be ratified by the parliaments of all member countries, a situation that could last months, or even years. Endi