After eight years of negotiations, 12 Pacific-rim nations - including Australia - have agreed upon the largest free-trade agreement in history during a last-minute round of talks in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which covers 40 per cent of the global economy, will strip thousands of trade tariffs in the region and set common labour, environmental and legal standards among signatories.

Here's how Australian businesses have reacted to the deal:

E-commerce

Global e-commerce giants will be given a much freer hand to sell products to Australian consumers as part of the TPP, potentially causing problems for local brick and mortar retailers.

"TPP includes cutting-edge rules to promote internet-based commerce – a central area of American leadership," the office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement. "[It] prohibits the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions, and prevents TPP parties from favouring national producers or suppliers of such products through discriminatory measures or outright blocking."

The Australian government will no longer be allowed to force global companies like banks and medical providers to store customer details in local data centres.

"TPP also bans 'forced localisation' – the discriminatory requirement that certain governments impose on US businesses that they place their data, servers, research facilities, and other necessities overseas in order to access those markets," the office of the US Trade Representative said.

This means US technology giants like Uber and Google will be able to sell services to customers around the world without establishing local infrastructure – potentially slashing the amount it costs them to reach local consumers.

It could also have a negative impact on independent Australian data centre providers like NextDC and Macquarie Telecom, which have long spruiked their local facilities as a key selling point.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said it was too early to say how the TPP would affect retailers in Australia.

"There's always a risk of [harm] unless barriers are also lifted for Australian retailers going overseas," he said. "We've got to see how this all plays out. Hopefully this will be good for retailers in Australia."

Agriculture

The world's biggest dairy exporter, Fonterra, said the TPP fell "far short" of its "original ambition to eliminate all tariffs".

"The entrenched protectionism demonstrated by the US dairy industry in particular had ensured that the deal on dairy failed to reach its potential," said John Wilson, the chairman of the New Zealand dairy co-operative.

But Australian farmers welcomed the agreement. National Farmers' Federation president Brent Finlay said the TPP would "improve on the Japan Australia bilateral agreement" struck in 2014.

Mr Finlay said it would eliminate tariffs on certain cheese products, as well as providing tariff reductions and new quota allocations for remaining cheese products.

"While not reaching the high ambition sought by some sectors, there should be no doubt that Australia needs to be a party to the TPP deal," Mr Finlay said.

Despite being disappointed overall, Mr Wilson acknowledged the TPP was a "small but significant step forward for the dairy sector".

"Dairy has been very hard to resolve and New Zealand has managed to get some progress against the odds," he said. "There will be some useful gains for New Zealand dairy exporters in key TPP markets such as the US, Canada and Japan. Greater benefits will be seen in future years as tariffs on some product lines are eliminated."

Dairy was the last major area to be resolved. Exporters Australia and New Zealand had called for greater access to the US market, though the biggest criticisms were reserved for Canada, where a system of tariffs and supply management has insulated the country's 12,000 dairy farmers from the rest of the world.

Mr Finlay said the TPP would eliminate 98 per cent of tariffs on Australian exports to TPP countries and create longer-term benefits for Australian farmers beyond those that can be achieved in a bilateral free-trade agreement, particularly in the three countries where we did not have agreements in place - Canada, Mexico and Peru.

In the grains sector, the agreement will result in the creation of new quota volumes for wheat and barley exports to Japan under the simultaneous buy-sell mechanism which were worth approximately $481 million in 2014. It will also provide for new quota access for roasted malt exports, while tariffs on exports of Australian wheat and barley to Mexico will be eliminated.

For the rice sector, the TPP results in new quota access into Japan with a new 6,000 tonne quota from entry into force, a reduction in tariffs on a number of rice preparation products, and an amendment to the World Trade Organisation quota of an extra 60,000 tonnes of medium grain rice for processing use.

The TPP will eliminate all remaining tariffs on Australian raw wool and cotton exports to TPP countries from day one of the agreement coming into effect and also deliver improved rules of origin for textiles, which will encourage greater demand for Australian fibre products.

Financial services

Australian financial services firms will be able to more easily target customers in overseas growth markets and transfer staff to offshore branches under the TPP.

The agreement devotes a chapter to finance, giving firms greater market access by streamlining regulations on firms operating within the group of 12 Pacific Rim member countries.

At the same time, governments say they will ensure regulators will still have the power intervene as needed in a financial emergency.

While the full text of the agreement has not been released, the federal government says it will guarantee firms the ability to provide "a range of financial services" to customers in other member countries.

Specific parts of finance covered by the deal include: investment advice and funds management services to pooled investment funds such as pension schemes, and insurance relating to risks in shipping and international commercial aviation.

The agreement will also lower the regulatory burden on firms seeking to export their services. This will include a commitment to allow financial institutions to transfer information into and out of their countries for data processing.

A fact sheet from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says this will be subject to protection of privacy and confidentiality.

As well, DFAT said the agreement would guarantee financial services firms the ability to move managerial or specialist staff overseas "for extended periods."

This condition was of "of particular value in light of the increasing presence of Australian firms overseas," DFAT said.

It is likely to be positive for funds management businesses, an area where Australia already has scale and expertise thanks to the $2 trillion superannuation pool.

The chief executive of the Financial Services Council, Sally Loane, backed the deal, saying it would help to further integrate Australia with the fastest growing region in the world.

"When the TPP agreement is up-and-running, Australia will be able to trade in financial services on the same basis as a domestic provider in the participating countries," Ms Loane said.

The agreement also gives financial regulators powers take measures aimed at promoting financial stability of their financial systems.

"Each country needs to be able to regulate its financial services sector, not only in times of crisis, but also in the day-to-day functioning of its financial system," DFAT said.

It will not affect the "four pillars" banking policy that prevents mergers among the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank or ANZ Bank.

with Bloomberg