Negotiations for Japan-China-Korea FTA to Begin by End of 2012
Ministers from Japan, China, and Korea agreed to launch negotiations for a free trade agreement between the three countries by the end of 2012 at the Ninth Japan-China-Korea Trilateral Economic & Trade Ministers' Meeting in Beijing on May 12, reports Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. To achieve this end, said the ministers in a joint statement, the three countries should immediately start preparation work including domestic procedures and working level consultations.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
At the meeting, the ministers also discussed issues including the trilateral investment agreement, global and regional cooperation frameworks including G20, WTO and APEC, cooperation in the area of intellectual property, etc. In a joint statement, the ministers said they reviewed the report of the Joint Study for an FTA among the three countries, and agreed with the conclusions that the establishment of an FTA among the three countries would strengthen their relations (See ITT Online Archives [Ref.12051425]).