DANANG, Vietnam -- Ministers from the 11 remaining Trans-Pacific Partnership nations reaffirmed Friday that they have reached an agreement in principle on bringing into effect the trade pact, the Japanese economic and fiscal policy minister told reporters.
"We reconfirmed that there was nothing wrong with what we agreed to Thursday, including even the most minor language," Toshimitsu Motegi said after ministers from the so-called TPP 11 reconvened Friday night for talks.
Vietnamese Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh will hold a joint news conference Saturday to announce details of the agreement, Motegi said.
The new TPP, on which the ministers had reached an agreement in principle Thursday, was briefly in danger of collapse when Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau told Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe that he felt the deal was not yet ready for an official decision. Canada's stance forced the leaders to postpone their meeting.
"Yes, Canada agreed" in the latest ministerial talks, Motegi said, "and they said that they had the agreement from the very top." He also revealed that the pact was not altered beyond what had been agreed to Thursday. "We went through it word by word, including the ministerial statement, and reached a consensus on the words, sentences and phrasing," he said.
Because of time constraints, leaders of the 11 nations will not hold a summit on the new TPP. But like the initial TPP including the U.S., the new trade pact does not necessarily need their blessing for an official agreement, requiring only that the ministers sign off.
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