Japan and South Korea are adding to their list of grievances with each other as Japan’s government prepares to debate South Korea’s partial ban on Japanese marine products. The debate is coming next week, at a World Trade Organization meeting in Switzerland, reports the Japan Real Time.  South Korea has banned Japanese marine products due to fears of radiation. apanese government officials will present their case to the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in Geneva, an official from the country’s fisheries agency told JRT.

The ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC) yesterday called on regional governments to consult with trade groups and associations for discussions on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).  In a report to leaders released the other day, the council said it supports regional economic integration between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its dialogue partners through existing free trade agreements (FTAs) and the rapid development of the RCEP.

The Hanoitimes - The European Union (EU) will annually grant more than 300 million euro in official assistance development (ODA) to Vietnam, announced Ambassador and Head of the EU delegation to Vietnam Franz Jessen on October 10. Franz Jessen said the EU is considering its ODA loans for Vietnam in the 2014-2020 period which may be higher than the previous years’ level although it is reducing its ODA to other countries.

BRUSSELS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The European Union asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday to rule on the legality of a recycling fee Russia imposes on imported cars, stepping up a trade dispute between the two. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it had asked the WTO to establish a dispute settlement panel to adjudicate on the fee. The EU believes the charge discriminates against EU vehicle exports to Russia, worth some 10 billion euros ($13.5 billion) per year.

BRUSSELS—The European Union on Thursday asked the World Trade Organization to rule that a recycling fee Russia places on imported cars violates international trade rules, in the first complaint against Russia since Moscow joined the Geneva-based arbiter of trade disputes in August 2012. Tensions between Russia and the 28-nation EU, as a bloc Russia's largest trading partner, are shaping up as an important test for whether the WTO can restrain the trade polices of a major economic power.

Green growth and sustainable business is an important chapter in negotiations of the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement (FTA), Jacques Bouflet, Minister Counsellor and Head of the trade and economic affairs section at the Delegation of the EU to Vietnam said. EU is a large importer of agricultural products from Vietnamincluding coffee, seafood, wood products. When this FTA was clinched, Vietnam’s agro products can deeply penetrate into EU market and fetch high earnings to Vietnam’s exporters.

Financial Times reporters who interviewed Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo in Bali during the just-concluded APEC meeting noted that the PM has of late appeared supremely confident and self-possessed. In describing his deportment, they went so far as to use the word “swagger.” Allowing Abe center stage as leader of the most advanced and civilized country at APEC 2013 was reason enough to be grateful for President Obama’s absence from the meeting. Abe made the most of this opportunity, credibly articulating a more active and engaged Japanese policy toward and within Asia.

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday put forward an ambitious plan to lock down a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, which has been stalled since 2005, within the next 12 months. Abbott, who is attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Bali, told reporters that he was upbeat of relations with China and was confident of being able to finalize FTA negotiations before the end of 2014.

(VOV) - Vietnam’s agricultural exports are facing fierce competition from regional rivals including Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Myanmar in the Korean market. According to Le An Hai, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Asia-Pacific Market, Indonesia and Thailand benefit from experience and professional expertise, while emerging exporters like Cambodia and Myanmar enjoy much more flexible pricing strategies.

At the 2013 APEC meeting, TPP Ministers have made a Report to TPP Leaders on progress of TPP negotiations up to now: -------------------------------------- Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Ministers Report to Leaders