PACIFIC FTA DRAFT MIGHT BE READY BY MARCH: CHILE OFFICIAL

Santiago, February 17- The Chilean official chairing the fifth round of international talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership said Tuesday that a blueprint for the multilateral free trade framework could be thrashed out by March.

"We think...we can complete the (draft) text," when the sixth round of talks is held in Singapore in March, said Rodrigo Contreras in an interview with Kyodo News.

This means the broad outline of the TPP may take shape before Japan joins the multilateral talks to try to have its own demands reflected in the draft document. The Japanese government plans to decide by June whether to enter into the multilateral negotiations.

Contreras also said the Chilean government would not mind if Japan calls for exemption for rice from tariff elimination in the TPP talks. Chile does not produce much rice and any compromise on the issue is likely to meet little resistance from the Chilean public.

Japan and Chile have already concluded a bilateral free trade agreement but Japanese rice is protected under the accord.

In contrast, the TPP in principle is supposed to abolish trade tariffs on all goods and the United States and other countries may oppose Japan's demand.

Contreras also said the nine countries now discussing the TPP in the Chilean capital are certain to reach an agreement, though the process is expected to be time-consuming because each prospective signatory is asserting its own interests.

All countries are engaged in lively debate, raising questions about what was discussed in the fourth round of negotiations held in New Zealand in December when work to draft the new trade liberalization arrangement got under way, he added.

While noting that difficulty lies ahead for some countries to sign on to the TPP, Contreras said the negotiations will continue so that the countries can reach agreement at the summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November.

The ongoing talks on the TPP began Monday and are due to last until Friday.

The TPP negotiations, which have been built around a regional free trade agreement that took effect in 2006 among Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, are under way to expand the framework to include five other Asia-Pacific countries.

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