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1st LD Writethru: Pacific Rim countries reach deal on TPP free trade pact -- media

Xinhua, October 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Top trade negotiators of the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries have reached a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact, which covers about 40 percent of global economic output, local media reported Monday.

Senior officials were expected to announce the deal at a closing press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, scheduled at 9:00 am EST (1300 GMT) on Monday after wrapping up the round-the-clock TPP ministerial meeting here that has lasted for about five days.

Trade officials originally planned to end the TPP talks on Thursday, but a final deal was delayed by bitter fights over agricultural market access, rules of origin for autos and intellectual property protections for a new generation of drugs known as biologics.

The TPP, believed to be the world's biggest trade agreement in the past two decades, will lower trade and investment barriers in the 12 partner countries in the Asia Pacific region and set new rules for the global trading system.

The TPP talks involve Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Endi