Japan Debuts in TPP Talks

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, July 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan made its debut in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations as the 12th member on Tuesday, joining the ongoing 18th plenary meeting in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, that started July 15 for an 11-day run. The United States, one of the 11 other members in the TPP talks, completed domestic procedures to authorize Japan's entry into the negotiations around noon Tuesday Malaysia time (4 a.m. GMT). Japan achieved its entry into the TPP talks four months after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Tokyo's decision to take part. Koji Tsuruoka, Japan's chief negotiator, met with his counterparts from the 11 other TPP members for about two hours Tuesday afternoon. "Japan was given a very warm reception," Tsuruoka told reporters after the meeting. Earlier on Tuesday, the Japanese negotiation team comprising some 100 members established a base at the venue of the talks. "We aim to achieve results that will lead to economic reinvigoration in Japan," Tsuruoka said in a speech to mark the occasion. Koya Nishikawa, head of the Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party's TPP affairs committee, urged the team to do all it can to protect Japan's national interests. The team arrived in Kota Kinabalu on Monday night. The plenary meeting will end on Thursday, meaning that Japan will participate for only two and a half days. The 11 participating countries other than Japan are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Although the Malaysian session includes discussions on 13 sectors, talks have already finished for many key sectors, such as market access that handles tariff cuts and elimination. In addition to the chief negotiators' session, Japan also took part in discussions on five areas Tuesday, including intellectual property rights, the environment and rules of origin. Negotiators from the 12 countries will hold intensive discussions on Japan on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. Taking this opportunity, Japan will listen to arguments from the 11 other countries and explain its stance that it has sensitivities mainly in the agriculture sector. The TPP negotiations started in March 2010 based on a framework among Brunei, Chile, Singapore and New Zealand, under a basic principle of eliminating tariffs and in order to achieve wide-ranging deregulation. Participants are hoping to conclude the negotiations by the end of this year. Japan is working hard to analyze a textbook of more than 1,000 pages that includes the results of past discussions among the 11 other members, so that it can put forward its requests in future rounds. These will include a call to make rice and other key agricultural items exceptions to the tariff elimination principle. The LDP is urging the Japanese government to secure such exemptions for five farm product categories--rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products, and sugar and starch. Japanese farmers are also concerned about the country's possible participation in the envisaged TPP pact. Based on these views, the government will try hard to protect domestic agriculture while seeking efforts by other participants to eliminate tariffs on industrial products. The next round of plenary TPP talks is seen to be held in Brunei in late August. END