By Rosalba O'Brien
SANTIAGO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The conditions are now present
to finalize a Pacific trade deal, although talks would likely
still go down to the wire, Chile's head of international trade
told Reuters on Thursday.
The United States has called negotiators from the 12 nations
discussing the Trans-Pacific Partnership to a meeting in Atlanta
next week in a bid to finish the pact that will cover 40 percent
of the world economy.
Since a meeting in Hawaii in July failed to clinch a deal,
the member countries had continued to hold discussions, said
Andres Rebolledo, head of the Chilean foreign ministry's
economic relations department.
In particular, delegates from Japan and North America had
been working to make progress over a stumbling block on autos,
he said.
"There were signs that the conditions were there to conclude
negotiations, but you can never be sure of that because with
talks you never know until the last minute if it is possible to
find a balance or not," he said in a telephone interview.
Three major sticking points remain - autos, dairy trade, and
monopoly periods for biologic drugs. The last is a sensitive one
for Chile and the developing countries that are keen to hurry
cheaper generic drugs to market.
Although only the three issues remained, they were equally
tough ones to solve, Rebolledo said.
"All three are complicated and sensitive and all need to be
resolved to really have a balanced deal," he said.