Summary of the 3rd Round of Negotiations on the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement

November 8, 2007
Japanese

The 3th round of negotiations on the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was held from November 5(Mon) to 8 (Thu) in Canberra.
In this round, Mr. Masaharu Kohno, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, as chief negotiator, Mr. Hidenori Murakami, Vice Minister for International Affairs, Mr. Sumio Kusaka, Deputy Director General, Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Toshihisa Takata, Deputy Director General, Trade Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Mr. Kazuo Haraguchi, Counsellor, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Mr. Haruhisa Somaya, Director for FTAs, International Affairs and Research Division, Customs and Tariff Bureau, Ministry of Finance, as well as other officials from relevant Japanese ministries, and Mr. Peter Gray, Deputy Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and officials from other relevant departments of Australia respectively participated.
In this round, useful discussions were held in each area including trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property, government procurement and energy and mineral resources.
The 4th round of negotiations will be held in Tokyo in late February, 2008. The detailed schedule will be determined through diplomatic channels.