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In the current negotiations on agricultural subsidies at the World Trade Organisation, much of the attention has been given to the issue of the overall trade-distorting support (OTDS) of developed countries.

The United States' 2007 Farm Bill, which has been passed by the House of Representatives and will next be considered by the Senate, is likely to be a stumbling block in the negotiations to finalise the "modalities" in agriculture, when the World Trade Organisation resumes its work in early September.

The leaders of Indonesia and Japan signed a free trade pact in Jakarta on Monday that will eliminate well over 90 per cent of tariffs in trade between the two nations that last year was worth $27.2bn.

Analysts here say an economic partnership agreement due to be signed next week between Indonesia and Japan will do more to benefit Japanese companies than domestic businesses.

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Domingo Siazon recently made a pitch for the Senate ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), saying that Japan's aging population represents a large labor market for local nurses and caregivers.

IGJ Statement on Indonesia-Japan EPA

Hundreds of representatives of social and labour organisations, faith-based, community-based and health networks, small farmers, traders, women and youth organisations, and developmental, human rights and environmental NGOs from across the whole of the Southern African region have gathered in a Peoples Summit in Lusaka, Zambia, 15-16 August 2007, parallel to the SADC Heads of State summit.

Philippine trade deals with Japan and China, which President Gloria Arroyo recently urged Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members to act on, will further weaken the country

India's main areas of concern have been largely addressed at the ongoing Doha Round as trade negotiations enter the last phase with reasonably good prospects for a successful conclusion, Harsha Vardhana Singh, deputy director-general, World Trade Organisation (WTO), said here on Monday.

RP excludes only rice and salt vs. 239 items for Japan