Certain progress made at TPP talks: sources

November 2, 2017

URAYASU, CHIBA Pref.- Chief negotiators of the current 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership signatory countries ended their three-day talks in Japan on Wednesday with a certain progress toward a board accord on a new TPP deal excluding the United States, informed sources said the same day.

But the negotiators were also unable to bridge gaps over some difficult issues, such as the protection of data on new drugs and rules to protect intellectual property rights, during the session in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, the sources said.

For the new deal, Japan and 10 other remaining TPP economies have been negotiating to determine which measures that were agreed for the old 12-nation TPP will be frozen. Jiji Press