[CTC] April decision possible on Japan joining TPP talks

[Arthur Stamoulis]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/25/us-trade-tpp-japan-idUSBRE92O0SN20130325


April decision possible on Japan joining TPP talks: New Zealand's Groser

By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON | Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:32pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States, New Zealand and nine other countries  
negotiating a free trade pact in the Asia-Pacific region could  
formally decide next month whether to allow Japan into the talks, New  
Zealand's trade minister said on Monday.

"Look, I'm sure we will find a way to say yes. I don't think that's  
the issue. The issue is the terms and the timing" and the method of  
proceeding with Japan in the talks, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim  
Groser said in an interview after a speech to a U.S. businessgroup.

Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced  
Japan's interest in joining U.S.-led negotiations on the Trans-Pacific  
Partnership (TPP), setting off a round of consultations between TPP  
members on whether to allow the world's third largesteconomy to join.

Top trade officials from all the TPP countries will be in Surabaya,  
Indonesia on April 20-21 for the annual trade ministers meeting of the  
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, a 21-member regional group  
that includes non-TPP countries such as China and Russia.

Asked if a formal decision on Japan's application could come at that  
meeting, Groser said: "That's possible ... The TPP will be a side  
event (at the APEC meeting), but the sometimes the side event may  
overshadow the main event."

"Japan coming into a trade agreement, which is premised on  
comprehensive liberalization, is a big deal. It's one of the biggest  
developments in world trade politics in 20 years."

Although Japan has a number of agricultural and other sensitivities,  
Groser said he was confident Tokyo could be brought into the talks  
without jeopardizing the goal of a deal that removes barriers in all  
products.

"At the same time, every country has sensitivities" and it's up to  
trade negotiators to find methods or "modalities that allow those  
sensitivities to be handled in a mature and politically subtle way,"  
Groser said.

Current TPP members - which also includeAustralia, Mexico, Canada,  
Singapore, Chile, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei - have a goal of  
finishing the talks this year, possibly as early as October at the  
annual APEC leaders meeting in Bali.

"I think we are in striking distance of getting a political deal,"  
Groser said. "Whether we get it precisely in October, November,  
December or it drags on a little bit longer than, only time will can  
tell."

WTO DIRECTOR GENERAL JOB

Groser, a former New Zealand ambassador to the World Trade  
Organization, is also one of nine candidates in the running to succeed  
WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, who is stepping down later this year  
after two terms in the job.

That list is expected to be whittled down over next couple of months,  
with a final decision due by late May. Groser is competing with  
candidates from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Mideast for world  
trade's top international post.

In his speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Groser said the WTO  
members must confront the fact that the institution was "losing  
relevancy" because of its failure to complete the Doha round of world  
trade talks launched in late 2001.

Heading into its next ministerial meeting in December, members should  
aim for a "trade facilitation" package to streamline customs clearing  
procedures plus agreement on a few additional issues to prove that it  
is "not completely dysfunctional," Groser said.

Beyond that, the WTO should once again strive for a big agreement to  
conclude the Doha round, instead of shedding sections of the  
negotiations as it has done since 2003 in a failed attempt to reach  
consensus, Groser said. L2N0CH0SY

That means sticking to the negotiating mandate agreed in 2001 in the  
capital city of Qatar and going beyond that to incorporate new issues  
not envisioned then, he said.

"We have to build it up, piece by piece. Above all, it has to be done  
very discreetly," Groser said.

Striving for a deal before the end of U.S. President Barack Obama's  
second term in January 2017 is "an obvious deadline, but I'm also  
opposed to artificially trying to link negotiating timetables to  
electoral timetables," he said in the interview.

"Look, we've got to have some sense that we're trying to do it in the  
next few years, for heaven's sakes. But you know, if it takes longer  
than that, it takes longer than that."

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20130326/2b2b6d7b/attachment-0001.htm>