LOS CABOS, Mexico, June 19 (Reuters) - Canada will join 10 other nations in talks aimed at creating an Asia Pacific free trade agreement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on Tue sday, part of a bid to reduce reliance on the U.S. market in favor of fast-growing emerging economies. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks are aimed at creating a free-trade zone with a combined population of 658 million people and a gross domestic product of more than C$20 trillion ($19.65 trillion).

Government programmes supporting agriculture domestically in 40 World Trade Organization (WTO) member states came under the spotlight at the latest meeting of the WTO's Agriculture Committee - the body responsible for overseeing that countries are complying with their commitments regarding subsidies and market access under the Agriculture Agreement.

The Philippines will seek compensation and suspension of concessions penalties from Thailand if the Department of Trade and Industry discovers that Thailand failed to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling that it correct its taxation scheme for Philippine-made cigarettes before May 15 this year. Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal said a team will be sent to Thailand to verify if the Southeast Asian country failed to meet the set deadline for compliance.

Canada and Morocco have completed the third round of talks toward a free trade agreement (FTA), with Canada’s Minister of International Trade stressing that deepening trading relationships in fast-growing markets is the best way to create jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.

The Bahamas has received praise from the World Trade Organization (WTO) for progressing rapidly with the significant reforms necessary to become a member of the global trade body. On June 21, 2012, the Working Party on the Accession of the Bahamas held its second meeting, examining the Bahamas' trade regime, its trade-related reforms and assessing its conformity with WTO rules. In response to recent progress, WTO members praised the Bahamas for the "considerable progress" made in undertaking reforms to its trade regime and bringing it in line with WTO rules.

SEOUL, June 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea plans to extend tariff quotas on 44 imported farm goods as part of efforts to secure stable supply and help stabilize prices, the finance ministry said Monday. Tariff quotas for 44 farm products imported from overseas, including pork belly and dried pepper, were scheduled to expire at the end of June, but the Ministry of Strategy and Finance decided to extend the expiration by the end of 2012 in a bid to curb inflationary pressures caused by global price hike in agricultural products.

MEXICO CITY, June 25 (Reuters) - Mexico said on Monday Argentina has pulled out of an auto trade pact over the deal's conditions, and that the Mexican government is separately preparing a case against the South American nation before the World Trade Organization over protectionist measures. The move came after Argentina said in March it planned to seek more favorable terms in the pact, known as ACE-55, aiming to follow in the footsteps of Brazil, which won concessions limiting the number of Mexican auto exports to the country.

BOGOTA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak said here Monday that the two countries had finished Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks. "When we started to expand our economy 20 years ago, I went to Asia as Colombia's first foreign trade minister," Santos said. "One of the countries I visited was South Korea, hoping to secure a market and a possible free trade agreement." "Now that dream has come true," he said, adding that an agreement would be signed in the next few months.

The High Level Working Group on trade and investment, co-chaired by the United States Trade Representative and the European Commissioner for Trade, and established following the meeting between European Union leaders and President Barack Obama in November last year, has issued its interim report.

After months of signalling its interest to do so, Canada has received all-member support for its entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.