On 17 July 2018, the European Union and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the biggest trade agreement ever negotiated by the EU that will create an open trade zone covering over 600 million people. The agreement entered into force on Friday, 1 February 2019.
To raise awareness of the opportunities this agreement offers and to help EU SMEs take advantage of them, the EU-Japan Centre has launched an EPA Helpdesk to support and guide EU SMEs in their search for relevant information. The "EPA Helpdesk" answers EPA-related queries, organises webinars and publishes information packs each of them composed of a factsheet and/or practical guide covering a specific topic or sector.
Below is the list of topics and sectors impacted by the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.
In each chapter, you will find among others:
On 17 July 2018, the European Union and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the biggest trade agreement ever negotiated by the EU that will create an open trade zone covering over 600 million people.
The EU dairy sector is the second biggest agricultural sector in the EU, representing more than 12 % of total agricultural output.
The total value of the EU’s output of fruit and fresh vegetables at basic prices was EUR 57.5 billion in 2017. This represented 13.9 % of the value of all the agricultural goods and services produced in the EU.
A geographical indication is a name used to identify a product as originating in the territory of a particular country, region or locality where its quality, reputation or other characteristic is linked to its geographical origin.
Mode Four of GATS* may cover a wide range of persons, from high-level engineers to unskilled workers. In the FTA, Japan mainly commits with respect to highly qualified professionals.
The production capacity of Malt in the EU represented 9,683,650 tonnes in 2017 while the exports of malt production produced in the EU reached 2,438,644 tonnes this very year.
The meat sector is one of the most important in European Union agriculture. The European livestock sector is expected to benefit from world population and income growth, contributing to higher EU exports.
Of the 20 most exported EU PAPs to Japan, important products such as cigarettes, mineral waters, cocoa powder, pectic substances, spirits, yeast and caseinates were liberalised at the entry into force of the Agreement.
The EU-Japan EPA offers opportunities to EU businesses in the Japanese Government procurement market on top of those already available for foreign companies under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).
Origin is the ‘economic’ nationality of goods traded in commerce. It is the origin that determines the duties and taxes apply to a product when exported abroad. The EU-Japan EPA has established new provisions regarding the Rules of Origins.
SMEs in both Japan and the EU represent more than 50 % of economic output. Since 1 February 2019, the Agreement allows a strengthening of the bilateral economic relations in a market of more than 573 million inhabitants.
Beer is a drink that has been enjoyed in communities across Europe for several thousand years.
According to the WTO, Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) is an import regime in which quantities inside a quota are charged lower import duty rates, than those outside.
Since 2013, Japan’s telecom market size has remained roughly stable (in JPY terms) with revenues hovering between ¥ 13.5n and ¥14.5tn, while 2012 saw total industry revenues fall below ¥13t.
The EU-Japan Centre currently produces 5 newsletters :
Joint venture established in 1987 by the European Commission (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government (METI) for promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.
