NZ Trade Min says TPP must address interests beyond U.S.-Japan -Nikkei

TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Twelve-nation Pacific Rim trade
talks must better reflect the interests of participants other
than the United States and Japan, rather than centring on their
bilateral agreements, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser told
Japan's Nikkei business daily.
He rejected suggestions, however, that New Zealand had
played a major role in scuttling a possible deal in
Trans-Pacific Partnership talks last week by taking hard line on
dairy market access, according to an interview published on
Thursday.
Negotiators cited a clutch of lingering disputes, including
auto trade between Japan and North America, New Zealand's dairy
exports and monopoly periods for next-generation drugs, that
ministers were unable to resolve when they met to clinch a TPP
agreement.
"The central problem with this negotiation is that it is not
just a bilateral negotiation between the U.S. and Japan," Groser
told the Nikkei in a telephone interview conducted on Wednesday.
"There are 12 countries involved and their interests must be
reflected before we have a balanced agreement."
Groser told the Nikkei that a bilateral U.S.-Japan agreement
on autos did not fully take into account what Mexico and Canada
want, while the pact also did not address New Zealand's
interests in dairy products.
He dismissed suggestions, reported in Japanese media, that
New Zealand got in the way of concluding a deal by pushing for
dairy market access in exchange for concessions on drug data
protection.
"That's a complete misrepresentation of the round in
Hawaii," the Nikkei quoted him as saying.
"The reality is that we were never given even minimal offers
on things that are of interest to New Zealand that we could
accept."
He said no decisions had been made on when to hold the next
round of TPP ministerial talks but he was keen to set a time
quickly, the Nikkei said.
"What is really important is that we maintain momentum. If
we lose momentum, we lose everything," he said.