TOKYO: Japan and Britain on Thursday confirmed that the Trans-Pacific Partnership member states will start tariff negotiations with the European country, which hopes to join the regional free trade deal.

The two countries made the confirmation at a meeting in Tokyo between Japanese Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, British international trade secretary.

The TPP members including Japan share the view that Britain’s domestic systems meet the TPP’s tough standards, such as on intellectual property protection.

In the near future, Britain will present proposals for reductions of its import tariffs on agricultural and industrial goods.

At the meeting, Hayashi asked Britain to swiftly remove its import restrictions on food and other items produced in Fukushima Prefecture, where Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 power plant had a nuclear disaster in 2011.

Trevelyan also met with economic revitalization minister Daishiro Yamagiwa, who underlined the importance of maintaining the TPP’s tough standards and high tariff removal rates of nearly 100 pct.

JIJI Press