(VOVworld) - Trade ministers from 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries met in Atlanta on Wednesday in an effort to resolve key issues of the world’s largest free trade deal.

Trade ministers from 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries met in Hawaii on July 31. (Photo: VNA)

The two-day meeting will focus on a number of differences which prevented negotiators from reaching a final agreement at the last top-level talks in Hawaii in July. 

Among the issues are US import barriers on some Japanese auto components, opening US and Canada markets to dairy products from New Zealand, and the duration of patent protection for new-generation drugs. 

TPP negotiations began in 2005 and the participating countries are making great efforts to complete them as soon as possible after the 2013 deadline was missed. 

Once the deal is signed, the TPP will become a free trade region of 800million people, accounting for 30% of global trade and about 40% of the world’s economy.