Ministers to meet Sat. to fill gap on Pacific FTA+

TOKYO, Nov. 5 Kyodo -
The government is making arrangements to hold a meeting of ministers on
Saturday night to iron out persisting differences on a U.S.-backed multilateral
trans-Pacific free trade agreement, sources close to the matter said Friday.
National policy minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters earlier in the day that
it is difficult to hold the meeting on Friday as planned. The talks are
intended to discuss the government's basic policy on FTA issues, including on
the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
The move is expected to pave the way for the basic policy's endorsement at a
Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, only days ahead of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum summit to be held in Yokohama that weekend.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan is also expected to attend Saturday's meeting, the
sources said.
Gemba spoke to reporters after meeting with Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Minister Michihiko Kano, who remains cautious about Japan's participation in
negotiations for the TPP apparently due to concerns among Japanese farmers that
they may suffer from an expected influx of cheaper agricultural products.
The negotiations, which have been built on a regional FTA that took effect in
2006 among Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, are under way between the
four nations and five other countries -- the United States, Australia, Vietnam,
Malaysia and Peru.
With members pursuing a high-level FTA, Japan is wary that it may be compelled
to open up its agricultural market to a level not seen in its bilateral FTAs
signed in the past, while its export-oriented business sector is hoping to take
advantage of it.
The TPP is regarded as a potential key framework that could lead to forming a
proposed free trade area among the 21 APEC member economies.
Japan is trying to work out its basic FTA policy ahead of the APEC summit on
Nov. 13 and 14, which will be chaired by Kan.
==Kyodo
2010-11-05 22:23:16


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