Brussels, 25/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The third round of talks focused on examining the positions of the European and Japanese negotiators for a text of the agreement. The next round will be at the beginning of 2014.
Thirteen working groups - trade in goods (including market access and rules); technical barriers to trade and non-tariff measures; rules of origin; customs and trade facilitation; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; trade in services; investment; procurement; intellectual property; sustainable development; competition policy; business environment and regulation; dispute settlement - have discussed the draft text of the agreement this week (21-25 October).
In an effort to speed up the negotiating process - which could take five years - the European Commission and Japanese government agreed, at the end of September, to carry out an exchange of offers on good and services by the time of the EU-Japan summit in Tokyo on 19 November (see EUROPE 10929).
Strict parallelism has been established in these negotiations - between tariff liberalisation for the EU and the lifting of Japan's non-tariff barriers. A revision clause provides for an assessment in spring 2014 of Tokyo's progress on non-tariff barriers, and the negotiations can then be suspended if progress is not sufficient. (EH/transl.fl)