(Adds details on debate over biologics, Amari comment on
biologics)
By Ana Isabel Martinez and Kevin Krolicki
ATLANTA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Trade ministers from a dozen
Pacific nations meeting in Atlanta extended talks on a sweeping
trade deal until Saturday in a bid to get a final agreement on
the most ambitious trade pact in a generation.
Officials extended talks originally scheduled to wrap up on
Thursday in a determined effort to produce a breakthrough on the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would liberalize trade in 40
percent of the world economy for a region stretching from
Vietnam to Canada.
"No one wants to leave without an agreement," Mexican
Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told Reuters after a second
plenary session of top officials from all 12 nations. "The good
news is that we will not leave here without one."
Observers pointed to progress on autos, Canada's pledge to
compensate farmers hurt by imports and signs of a possible
compromise on patent protection for new drugs as evidence of
advancement - although that remained a key sticking point.
"We are starting to see the path to an agreement and have
agreed to make final efforts," Japanese Economy Minister Akira
Amari told reporters.
Several officials said a final deal could come quickly
depending on the outcome of bilateral talks on intellectual
property protection for medicines and trade in dairy and autos.
Amari said the monopoly period for biologic drugs, which are
made from living cells, was the most difficult issue remaining.
TPP countries have protection periods ranging from 12 years in
the United States to five years in countries including Australia
and Chile.
A deal would be a legacy-defining achievement for U.S.
President Barack Obama. But the trade deal is seen as a threat
by an array of interest groups from Mexican auto workers to
Quebec dairy farmers to cancer patients who worry that it could
push the cost of new therapies out of reach.
CONGRESSIONAL CONCERNS
In a reassertion of concern in Congress, a group of U.S.
lawmakers from both parties sent a letter to U.S. Trade
Representative Michael Froman and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on
Wednesday.
"We urge you to take the time necessary to get the best deal
possible for the United States, working closely with us," said
the letter signed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman
Paul Ryan and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch as
well as the senior Democrats on those two committees.
Several Republicans attacked a new U.S. proposal to ensure
governments would be free to enact anti-smoking measures without
fear of legal action by tobacco companies.
That could prevent companies like Philip Morris PM.N and
Japan Tobacco Inc 2914.T from using rules to protect foreign
investors to challenge public health measures but falls short of
the sweeping measure anti-smoking groups had hoped for.
Guajardo said talks on auto trade had progressed but were
not over yet.
The auto issue is crucial for Japan, whose automakers, led
by Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T , depend on sales to the U.S.
market and want flexibility on sourcing auto parts.
But Mexico, which has experienced a boom in auto-related
investment over the last two decades, wants to protect its
manufacturers against increased competition from Asia.