(VOVworld) - Trade ministers from the US, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim countries have dragged the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation in Atlanta, the US, for one more day to October 4, trying to seal a deal on the world's largest free-trade pact.
Trade ministers from a dozen Pacific nations in Trans-Pacific Partnership Ministers meeting post in TPP Ministers "Family Photo" in Atlanta, Georgia October 1, 2015. (photo: Reuters) |
The organizing board said after resolving differences in automobile spare parts, the negotiating delegations got stuck over a handful of issues relating to dairy products and the length of patent protections for life-saving new-generation drugs. They are expected to have a joint press conference at noon on October 4. Japanese Trade Minsiter Akira Amari said the US delegation should bridge differences in how to regulate next-generation pharmaceuticals.
Analysts said if the TPP negotiation in Atlanta can’t reach a final agreement, the negotiators will meet for talk again on the sideline of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in the Philippine in November.