S'pore, Japan hold free trade talks

S'pore, Japan hold free trade talks

SINGAPORE (AP): Japanese and Singaporean officials met for a third round of free-trade talks in this Southeast Asian city- state Monday in an attempt to hammer out a landmark pact by December.

The negotiations will last until Sept. 5, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

If completed, the free trade deal will be the first ever for Japan. The statement said an agreement would be signed "no later than the end of December this year."

Japan tightly guards its farming sector and bans imports of many products. Japanese farmers have been outraged recently by cheap American rice making it into lunch boxes and grocery stores in Tokyo.

Japan gave in to international pressure in 1993 and lifted its ban on rice imports. Under an international trade agreement, Japan is now required to import 8 percent of the annual rice consumption, or 770,000 tons of rice a year.

American farmers have often complained about Tokyo's closed markets, though the United States is the world's top exporter of agricultural products to Japan, including rice.

Nicholas de Boursac, managing director of the American Chamber of Commerce, Singapore, said Monday that many business people were worried that if agriculture is omitted, it could set a precedent for future deals with Japan.

"The strong feeling of our membership was that agriculture should be included in any free trade agreement," de Boursac said. The chamber conducted a survey of their members earlier this year to find out how people felt about the potential free trade deal.

The negotiations in Singapore are being lead by Kazuo Asakai, Japan's ambassador for international economic affairs and global environmental affairs and Lim Chin Beng, a former ambassador to Japan.