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1st LD Writethru: Pacific trade ministers "have successfully concluded" TPP trade talks -- U.S. trade representative

Xinhua, October 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Trade ministers of the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries "have successfully concluded" the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Monday.

"After more than five years of intensive negotiations, we have come to an agreement that will support jobs, drive sustainable growth, foster inclusive development, and promote innovation across the Asia-Pacific region," Froman said at a closing press conference after about five days of round-the-clock TPP ministerial meeting was wrapped up here.

Froman said negotiators will continue to work on technical issues for preparing a complete text for public release, including the legal review, translation, and drafting and verification of the text, to formalize the outcomes of the agreement.

Trade officials had originally planned to wrap up the talks in Atlanta 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 biggest trade agreement in the world in the past two decades, will lower trade and investment barriers in 12 partner countries in the Asia Pacific region.

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