Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On November 23, 2018, both Australia and Chinese Taipei joined the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (“CBPR”) system. The system is a regional multilateral cross-border transfer mechanism and an enforceable privacy code of conduct and certification developed for businesses by the 21 APEC member economies.

The Australian Attorney-General’s Department recently announced that APEC endorsed Australia’s application to participate and that the Department plans to work with both the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and organizations to implement the CBPR system requirements in a way that ensures long-term benefits for Australian businesses and consumers.

In Chinese Taipei, the National Development Council announced that Chinese Taipei has joined the system. According to the announcement, Chinese Taipei’s participation will spur local enterprises to seek overseas business opportunities and help shape conditions conducive to cross-border digital trade.

Australia and Chinese Taipei become the seventh and eighth countries to participate in the system, joining the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Both nations’ decisions to join the system further highlights the growing international status of the CBPR system, which implements the nine high-level APEC Privacy Principles set forth in the APEC Privacy Framework. Several other APEC economies are actively considering joining.