Category Archives: Trade Talks

  Satoko Adachi – Geneva, Switzerland Roberto Azevedo, who took office as the new director general of the World Trade Organization in the beginning of this month, warned in his inaugural speech made Monday, September 9, that the organization risks being irrelevant. In the remarks made at a special meeting of the WTO’s general council, Azevedo referred to the prolonging negotiations of the Doha round, stating that the negotiating arm of the organization was struggling and the failure to address this paralysis casted a shadow over every other part of WTO’s work. “That’s why success at the Bali ministerial conference is vital,” he stressed, referring to the ministerial meeting to … Continue reading →

  A liaison council for 11 cultural groups related to creation of movies, poems and other artworks issued a statement on Monday, September 9, opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. The groups fear that strengthening regulations concerning copyright laws under the intellectual property area of the TPP agreement would make derivative works such as parody songs unlawful, even without accusation from copyright holders, hindering creation of such works. Kimihiko Otsuru, a council member and standing director of an association for poets, states that if the American-style strict rules are introduced in the field of intellectual property, there would be a danger of citizens’ creative activities being restricted. Otsuru admits that … Continue reading →

  Yoshiko Matsuda, a 45-year-old translator of Tokyo, has been reporting on the risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks through a Facebook page, based on information she gathered from people worldwide. Matsuda succeeded the page from a friend in September 2011. She says she wants to inform the public on the need to oppose the TPP agreement, using various kinds of ways. She consistently checks the homepage of the United States Congress and other overseas sources to gather information on the TPP talks, and conveys it directly to members of the Japanese Diet as well as posting it on the Internet. In May, she translated into English the resolutions … Continue reading →

  Shingo Oka – Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam Participants of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks ended discussions in two working group sessions on Saturday, August 31, concluding the 19th round of negotiations held in Brunei. Japan has also held one-on-one sessions with nine member countries on market access including elimination of tariffs, and presented to six of them its first offers of items subject to lowering or abolishment of tariffs. But the countries reportedly asked for higher trade liberalization rates, indicating that Japan will be under increasing pressure to make difficult decisions concerning tariff cuts as the members work to reach broad agreement before the TPP leaders’ meeting scheduled … Continue reading →