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Japan, Switzerland sign free trade deal

Japan’s Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and Swiss Vice President Doris Leuthard formally initialled the agreement reached last September. Japan is seeking to ratify it as early as June, a foreign ministry official said.

Under the agreement with Switzerland, Japan’s first with a European country, 99 percent of trade will be tariff-free within a decade.

The deal will remove tariffs on a wide range of goods including industrial and agricultural products. Only Swiss speciality goods such as natural cheese and chocolate will be subject to duties.

The agreement also encompasses issues such as intellectual property rights and deregulation in electronic commerce.

Swiss exports to Japan amounted to 593.7 billion yen (6.38 billion dollars) in 2006 while Switzerland imported 287.5 billion yen worth of Japanese products, according to official data.

A Japanese foreign ministry official said that “amid the current economic and financial crisis, there are fears of a re-emergence of protectionism ... and so both countries will cooperate to oppose that movement.”

Japan has struck 11 free trade agreements, including with a clutch of Asian countries as well as Chile and Mexico. It is also working toward similar deals with Australia, India and South Korea.