Japan accelerating bilateral talks on TPP

Japanese trade officials are rushing to clear the hurdles to a Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact. They are accelerating talks with individual countries ahead of a meeting of all 12 next month.

Chief negotiators for the TPP will gather in Vancouver, Canada, in July for about 10 days. Ministers from each country agreed last month to speed up talks for a final deal.

Officials from Japan and New Zealand met this week. They discussed tariffs on key agricultural products, including beef.