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 Ministers from the 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), which would cut trade barriers and set common
standards for 40 percent of the world economy, are meeting in Hawaii
to try to hammer out a deal.
But major issues are still unresolved, including dairy exports and
exclusivity periods for biologic drugs. The United States is pushing
for 12 years but Australia and other countries worried about the
impact on medicine prices want five.
"They are few but very contested," Mexican Trade Minister Ildefonso
Guajardo told Reuters of the outstanding issues.
"I think that the negotiators will have to work through the night,"
Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said.
A final news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Friday (7.30
p.m ET). Ministers appeared relaxed as they were garlanded with leis
for an official photo.
"It's tough," said one official involved in the talks, who declined
to be identified because of the sensitivity of the discussions,
which seek to meld one-on-one negotiations over market access with a
one-size-fits-all approach to rules.
"There are issues on dairy, on intellectual property, but it's not
always clear where things stand. I know about my issues but I don't
always know what's happening with other countries."
About 650 officials from 12 nations are taking part in the
negotiations on the Hawaiian island of Maui, with numerous lobby
groups and stakeholders also attending.
Negotiators have stressed they are doing their utmost to close the
deal this week but also warned that not all industries will get what
they want, amid a flurry of last-minute appeals.
TOBACCO TALKS
U.S. lawmakers, including from tobacco-growing states such as North
Carolina, renewed warnings against excluding tobacco from rules
allowing foreign companies to sue a host government.
An official briefed on the talks said there was discussion of a
U.S.-initiated exception in Maui. It would be narrower than the
broad exclusion for health and environmental policy sought by
Australia, which is being sued by Marlboro maker Philip Morris <PM.N>
over tobacco plain packaging laws.
Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said on Tuesday that countries
were "well down the track" on securing protection from litigation
over health and environment policy. He said on Thursday investment
rules and sugar remained open.
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Australia's bid to export more sugar to the United States has the
backing of U.S. confectioners and beverage companies.
"The United States needs to grant Australia commercially meaningful
access," Sweetener Users Association chairman Perry Cerminara, who
also handles sugar for chocolate maker The Hershey Co <HSY.N>, wrote
in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.
U.S. canegrowers oppose more imports, and Mexico is keen to
safeguard its preferential access to the U.S. sugar market.
"Of course we all have to make an effort, but the effort has to be
in line with the principle ... that the very, very, very sensitive
products are subject to a less aggressive schedule of market
opening," Guajardo said when asked about sugar.
Dairy is another tricky issue, with New Zealand, Australia and the
United States frustrated with Canada, and New Zealand and Australia
also looking for more access to U.S. and Japanese markets. Robb said
dairy was moving in "very tiny steps."
Australian Dairy Industry Council chairman Noel Campbell said
discussions had gone backwards in some cases and he had hoped for
more progress.
Canada hit back at complaints that it is holding up a deal. "To say
that one particular issue is a sticking point to a potential deal
just isn’t based in reality. A number of very serious issues remain
for countries to negotiate," said Rick Roth, spokesman for Trade
Minister Ed Fast.
(Reporting by Krista Hughes; Additional reporting by Christine
Prentice in New York; Editing by Ken Wills and Robert Birsel)
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