ISDS Case Map
Japan
Japan, China and South Korea have decided to start negotiations in 2007 with the aim of concluding a tripartite investment treaty, it was learned Thursday.
Japan's parliament approved a free trade agreement with the Philippines on Wednesday, paving the way for the pact to take effect next spring, Kyodo News Service reports.
The Philippine Senate isn't keen on convening the committee of the whole to tackle the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) this month, further setting back the ratification of the economic deal.
"Earlier, Japan wanted agriculture to be kept out of EPA but now it has agreed to include it. With this sticky issue having been resolved negotiations will now be launched," official sources said.
Japan has vowed to exempt duty on 51 aquatic products from Indonesia within the next three to five years after the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Cabinet ministers for international trade matters have approved a joint report submitted by Japanese and Australian experts recommending initiating talks on a bilateral free trade agreement, government officials said.
The study group concluded that a comprehensive and WTO-consistent EPA/FTA would bring about considerable benefits to both countries.
The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and the Asian Peasant Coalition lambasted the Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. for causing the pesticide poisoning of at least 79 people in Davao del Norte, Philippines, stressing that "such poisonings would increase and expand when the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) is ratified.”
Environmental protection group Greenpeace on Friday warned Thailand that its pending free trade agreement with Japan could pave the way for the dumping of toxic waste and hazardous chemical into the kingdom.
The Japanese government urged that guarantee for supplying Indonesia's liquefied natural gas to Japan be attached to the economic partnership agreement (EPA) between both countries. However, the Indonesian government has not complied with this request.
