Members of the International Trade Committee have approved the long-awaited EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, which is set to cut 99% of tariffs from EU goods exported to the Asian country.

Members of the International Trade Committee have approved the long-awaited EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

“The deal is set to cut 99% of tariffs from EU goods exported to Japan, saving companies around €1 billion of duties each year. It is expected to increase EU exports to the country by €13 billion”, said Jan Zahradil, the Trade Committee vice-chairman after today’s vote. “It is great to see the EU stepping up its efforts to ratify ambitious trade deals with Asian countries like Singapore, Vietnam and Japan.”

Syed Kamall, ECR co-chairman, added: “I hope the EU can avoid the problems it faced with the Canada trade agreement when it was ratified. It’s in both the UK and the EU’s interests that this deal comes into force as soon as possible, so that European companies can begin to benefit from the reduction in tariffs.”