The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday approved a set of bills to bring into effect the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The government aims to have the free-trade pact ratified and the bills enacted during the current Diet session.
TPP requires Japan to remove tariffs on 95.1 percent of farm, industrial and other imported products in value terms. In return, the government anticipates a boost to Japan's real gross domestic product of ¥13.6 trillion, or 2.59 percent, from fiscal 2014.
Abe told Cabinet ministers the administration needs to foster public understanding, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. The prime minister urged ministers to explain what the deal means in practice.