The European Commission has announced that the EU and Japan have signed the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The free trade agreement will create an open trade zone covering over 600 million people.
The agreement will remove the vast majority of the €1 billion of duties paid annually by EU companies exporting to Japan, and has led to the removal of a number of long-standing regulatory barriers, for example on cars. It will also open up the Japanese market of 127 million consumers to key EU agricultural exports and will increase EU export opportunities in a range of other sectors.
The agreement also includes a comprehensive chapter on trade and sustainable development; sets very high standards of labor, safety, environmental and consumer protection; strengthens EU and Japanese commitments on sustainable development and climate change and fully safeguards public services.