Report No.221103
Vol.22 No. 11 July 2005

- International -

Japan - Malaysia EPA Agreed in Principle

Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan and Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia met on May 25 in Tokyo and reached a broad agreement to conclude an Economic Partnership Agreement. With regard to major agricultural products, Japan will set a 1,000 tons a year duty-free tariff rate quota for fresh Banana import, while Malaysia will abolish import tariff on apples, pears and persimmon etc. with immediate effect.
 
The two countries will proceed to finalize text of the agreement with a view to singing in December and making it effective sometime in 2006. However, the plywood, for which talks during December last year failed to strike a deal, will be subject to renegotiations along with issues of Malaysian export tax and other export restrictions. 
 
Fresh agricultural produce will be incorporated in the agreement including mangos and mangosteens of which the tariff is already zero and durians with less than 3% of tariff rate.
 
Pineapple, rice, wheat, major meat and meat products etc., with which Malaysia showed great interest will be either excluded or treated as exceptions. In the light of the above, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) assumes that the impact of the agreement on domestic agriculture will be light.
 
With Malaysia eliminating import tariff on temperate zone fruits such as apples, MAFF considers that a way has been paved for promoting export of these products from Japan.

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