EU-Japan talks on track after the one-year-on review

EU News 305/2014

Brussels, 11 July 2014

Tokyo – The EU and Japan today finished another week of intense negotiations for an ambitious free trade agreement. This 6th round marked the beginning of a second phase in the negotiations, following the ’one-year-on’ progress review by the EU.

In accordance with its negotiating mandate, the EU assessed the progress achieved during the first year of talks and whether Japan had implemented the commitments it made prior to the launch of the negotiations. Despite some concerns, the extensive discussions held in May this year between the Commission and Member States confirmed that the negotiations should continue.

This week the EU and Japan made further significant efforts, discussing a range of issues and showing a high level of ambition across all the areas of negotiations. The negotiators once more discussed tariffs, technical barriers to trade, rules of origin, facilitation of customs procedures, access to public tenders, trade in services, rules on investment and protection of intellectual property, including geographical indications.

The EU wants the negotiations with Japan to address a number of concerns, including non-tariff barriers and unsatisfactory access to the Japanese public procurement market. If this is achieved, EU exports to Japan could increase by over 30%.

The next round is tentatively scheduled for October in Brussels.

Source and additional information:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1124

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