TOKYO, May 19 — Japan’s lower house has approved the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), also known as the TPP-11, despite opposition efforts to threaten the smooth ratification process.
In the May 18 morning, the lower house foreign affairs committee had approved the TPP-11 bill and sent it to the entire chamber to vote on the same day.
The trade bill will be approved automatically 30 days after it is sent to the upper house.
But for Japan, that is not the end of the ratification process.
The governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito party needs to pass the TPP-11 related bills, including measures to compensate farmers.
The Abe Administration desperately wants to pass the TPP-11 and related bills in the current parliamentary session that ends on June 20, a move Tokyo hopes would spur other 10 countries to hurry as well.
The TPP-11 will enter into force 60 days after six of the 11 countries ratify the deal, a process that involves amending their respective domestic laws.
The opposition parties, however, are expected to demand good deliberations over the related bills, arguing potential adverse affects of the TPP 11 on farmers if the agreement is implemented.