By Ami Miyazaki and Krista Hughes
LAHAINA, Hawaii, July 29 (Reuters) - Pacific trading
partners are deadlocked over intellectual property protections,
including monopoly periods for next-generation drugs, Japanese
Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Wednesday.
Amari said he saw no sign of the United States backing down
on a demand to protect for 12 years data used to develop
biologic drugs, which are made from living cells.
Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb has said he sees no
legitimate reason to extend past five years.
"There is still a huge gap over patents," Amari told
reporters after Wednesday's plenary session. He said talks
between ministers from the 12 countries negotiating the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would continue on Thursday.
Many are concerned that longer monopoly periods will push up
the cost of state-subsidized medicines and delay the
introduction of cheaper alternatives, although pharmaceutical
companies say the opposite is true.
People briefed on the TPP talks saw signs of progress on
other sticky issues, such as Canada's dairy market, as farmers
kept up pressure for Canada to allow in more imports.
The Canadians Agri-Food Trade Alliance says 90 percent of
the country's farmers rely on exports, from canola to beef.
Canada is at a disadvantage compared to Australia in exporting
beef to Japan, after tariffs on Australian beef were cut under a
bilateral trade deal.
"That disadvantage is new this year and will continue to
grow if there is no deal," Canadian Cattlemen's Association
international relations director John Masswohl said.
For its part, Japan is demanding that the United States
increase its quota for low-tariff imports of Japanese beef to
3,000 tonnes per year from the current 200 tonnes, Japanese
lawmakers with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
ID:nT9N0ZN003
Officials from TPP countries are also discussing ways to
prevent unfair manipulation of currencies to gain an export
advantage, a U.S. Treasury official said. ID:nW1N0ZB00Y
A U.S. proposal would set up a forum to debate currency
issues among finance officials from TPP countries, separate from
the trade agreement.
The U.S. Treasury said the move was aimed at meeting
congressional demands for a tougher stance against currency
manipulation, but the move stops short of the sanctions many
lawmakers want.
U.S. Democrat Sander Levin, whose state of Michigan is home
to automakers such as Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co F.N worried about
competition from Japan under the TPP, said any agreement on
currency had to be effective.
"There are discussions going on to see if a provision can go
beyond having meetings of ministers," he said.
(Writing by Krista Hughes; Editing by Jon Boyle)