TPP accord possible by early June: Japan official

Tokyo

AGREEMENT among the 12 countries currently negotiating entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) should be possible by "the end of May or early June" this year, Japan's deputy chief negotiator on the mammoth trade and investment agreement, Hiroshi Oe, said in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The deadline for reaching agreement on the pact "has been extended many times but now we are in the final stages", Mr Oe said at a briefing, adding that "this summer will be the real deadline".