Japan Govt Adopts Bills on EPA with EU

November 6, 2018

Tokyo--The Japanese government, at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, adopted a bill to ratify an economic partnership agreement between Japan and the European Union and related bills, deciding to request parliamentary approval for them.

The government plans to submit the EPA legislation and the related bills to the ongoing extraordinary session of parliament, held through Dec. 10, and aim to put them into effect on Feb 1 next year.

Signed by Japanese and EU leaders in July, the EPA between Japan and the EU will remove or reduce tariffs and nontariff trade barriers and create a huge economic zone that accounts for 30 pct of the world's gross domestic product.

The EU parliament is carrying out procedures to ratify the agreement. Both sides hope to complete their domestic procedures within this year.

The EPA is set to take effect on the first day of the month that is two months after both sides complete their domestic procedures.

On Monday, the EU parliament's international trade committee approved the EPA, with 25 supporting votes against 10 opposition. The EPA is expected to be adopted at the parliament's plenary meeting next month.

Under the EPA, the EU's 10 pct duties on Japan-made passenger cars will be cut to zero eight years after the effectuation of the agreement.

Japan will abolish tariffs on wine produced in the EU and set low-tariff import quotas for some cheese products from the European common market.

The Japanese government has estimated that the effectuation of the EPA would push up Japan's real gross domestic product by some 5 trillion yen and create jobs for some 290,000 people.

The Japan-EU EPA is an "important pillar for our growth strategy and promotes free and smoother trade between Japan and the EU and increase investment opportunities between them," Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko told a press conference on Tuesday.

Japan hopes that an early effectuation of the EPA with the EU will help it dodge possible tough demands from the United States in upcoming negotiations on a proposed bilateral trade agreement on goods, or TAG, to be launched as early as January next year.

Japan takes the position that any reduction of tariffs on agricultural products under the TAG with the United States should not exceed the levels agreed under past trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement and the Japan-EU EPA. Jiji Press