Current Affairs - International - Discussion

The European Parliament approved a free trade agreement between Japan and the EU, covering 635 million people and almost one-third of the world's economy. The world's largest free trade agreement, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will remove duties on almost all agricultural and industrial products as well as open up the service sector and procurement. It also moves to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade. The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement which has been under discussion since 2013 will come into effect from 1stFebruary 2019. This agreement is projected to increase exports between the two economies by 34 percent for the EU and 29 percent for Japan, liberalising up to 99 percent of bilateral trade. The elimination of tariffs will save consumers and importers $1 billion per year in the EU and will support a substantial increase of jobs, maximizing benefits for both companies and citizens.