No TPP before in Oct Meet at Bali

TPP countries - a 12-strong group that only just added Japan to its ranks this summer - had previously floated the idea of completing an agreement in time for next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting in Bali. Officials from TPP members have traditionally met on the sidelines of major APEC gatherings in order to review progress in the negotiations.

The October plan now appears to have been shelved, with TPP ministers referring to the APEC meeting instead as an important “milestone” in the process. However, ministers have pledged to “maintain our active engagement” ahead of the Bali event.

Japan involvement

Trade observers were also watching this Brunei round closely to see how Japan’s participation could affect the process. Tokyo became a formal member of the TPP group in July, just two days before the end of the last round, which was held in Malaysia.

In Brunei, Japan held bilateral tariff negotiations with nearly all of its TPP partners, with the exception of Chile and Peru. Japan has already tabled tariff elimination proposals with six of those countries, Tokyo’s chief negotiator Koji Tsuruoka told reporters. Exchanges of proposals with Australia and the US are expected later this month.

Agricultural market access is expected to be a major sticking point between Japan and its fellow TPP members, with Tokyo hoping to maintain its famously high tariffs on rice, as well as on beef, pork, dairy, wheat, and sugar.

The US and Japan have also begun to hold bilateral talks in parallel to the formal TPP process, in line with the deal announced earlier this year between the two sides that effectively paved the way for the Asian economy to join the regional negotiations.