Twelve countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations will hold a ministerial meeting Dec. 7 to 9 in Singapore, with an aim to conclude a deal by year-end, official sources said Monday.

The ministerial sessions will be the stage for the countries to make a thrust toward resolving difficult issues such as tariff eliminations, with Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Chile aiming to eliminate all tariffs, while countries like Japan seek to keep some to protect sensitive domestic industries.

The meeting will be held on the heels of the World Trade Organization's ninth ministerial conference from Dec. 3 to 6 in Bali, Indonesia.

The United States had sought to hold the TPP ministerial meeting on the same resort island.

But with the Doha Round trade liberalization talks under the WTO stalled, the TPP countries have decided to hold it in the nearby country, fearing successful conclusion of a TPP agreement could subsequently highlight the WTO's failure, a Japanese government source said.

The 12 countries were arranging the meeting in early December to avoid the Christmas holiday season, while another Japanese government source indicated it would have been difficult for TPP minister Akira Amari to attend if the meeting was set in mid- to late December as he will work on compiling the national budget.

The TPP negotiations on market access that involve tariff eliminations as well as intellectual property that deals with the length of protection including patent terms of new drugs have been some of the major sticking points for the member countries.

The negotiators have been continuing to discuss such issues through teleconference and other means to pave the way for the year-end conclusion, while chief negotiators are expected to hold their meeting in November.

The TPP countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

Source: Kyodo

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