Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed that he will not sacrifice Japan's agriculture to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks.Abe was speaking at a debate on this fiscal year's supplementary budget bill in the Upper House Budget Committee on Tuesday.

The World Trade Organisation on Monday held its first hearing on the EU's contested ban against the sale of seal products, a decision opposed by both Norway and Canada.The two countries, which every year kill tens of thousands of seals, insist that the hunting method is ethical and asked the WTO to review the 2010 ban, imposed because of what the EU considers cruel hunting methods.

MOSCOW, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia's recently imposed ban on meat imports from the European Union fully accords with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the Russian agricultural safety watchdog said Monday."We understand it clearly that we are in the WTO," Rosselkhoznadzor chief Sergei Dankvert told the Interfax news agency.

Lima, Feb. 18 (ANDINA). Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) will participate in the 16th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations on March 3-14, 2013 in Singapore.The TPP is a regional free-trade agreement between countries in America, Asia and Oceania under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

LONDON (Reuters)- Forthcoming transatlantic trade talks might offer a fresh incentive for Europe to worry a bit less about protecting past economic gains and focus a bit more on securing sources of future prosperity.The negotiations, announced last week and due to start in June, are also an important chance for the European Union to rejuvenate political ties with the United States as Washington pivots towards a rising Asia.

Obama says US wants to complete TPP trade dealFederated Farmers says the commitment made by US President, Barack Obama, to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is extremely promising for New Zealand farmers.In his State of the Union

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to discuss Japan's possible entry into regional free trade talks with the United States at a White House meeting late next week, U.S. trade policy specialists said on Friday.

PTI/ New Delhi: Negotiations for the India-EU Free Trade agreement may conclude by April this year, moving a step closer to sealing of the pact that is expected to boost trade and investment.Visiting French Minister for External Trade Nicole Bricq and Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Thursday discussed issues like level of market access relating to the FTA. Bricq is accompanying French President Francois Hollande, who is in India for a two-day visit.

(Reuters) - Global trade talks are in crisis and private companies in the United States urgently need to pressure their government back to the negotiating table, Mexico's candidate to head the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday.Herminio Blanco, a former Mexican trade minister who led negotiations to create the North American Free Trade Agreement, insists it is vital to revive the stalled Doha round of trade talks.

South Korean Minister of Strategy and Finance, Bahk Jaewan, hosted the 3rd Crisis Management Meeting of 2013 on February 7 and led a discussion on the country's challenges and future plans, now it has earned the title of a "free trade agreement hub," having signed treaties with 45 countries across three continents by the end of 2012.