Second Round of Negotiations on the Japan-EU EPA

According to press release on July 3 from MOFA and METI, the second round of negotiations on the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement ("EPA") was held in Tokyo, from June 24 to July 3.
At the meeting, fruitful discussions were conducted on areas such as trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights, non-tariff measures, government procurement and others.
The next round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in Brussels, Belgium in the week of October 21.

EU's request to Japan is not only tariff reduction in trade in goods, but removal of non-tariff measures, such as unclear industrial standard or incomprehensible process for foreign companies in various government approval in Japan.