(VOVworld) – Ministers from 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations met in Singapore on Monday.  The 12 TPP negotiators are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam.

Vietnamese negotiator (3 from right) attends the meeting in Singapore. (Photo: VNA)

Prior to the ministerial meeting, TPP chief negotiators and senior experts met in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss pending issues related to goods and services market access, intellectual property, investment, the environment, state-owned enterprises, and financial services. They were topics for the plenary and bilateral meetings held under the 2-day ministerial meeting.   

Trade observers said that although countries hoped for an early conclusion of the pact, at this meeting, they would just discuss impediments to negotiations resulting from disagreements between Japan and the US – the biggest TPP economies. Japan wants to remain its import duty on beef, pork, rice, wheat, and dairy products. Meanwhile the US is urging Japan to lift its non-tariff barriers on automobiles.