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Japan's parliament endorses FTA pact with Malaysia+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 26_(Kyodo) _ The Diet cleared Japan's bilateral free trade agreement with Malaysia on Wednesday, bringing the pact one step closer to its entry into force expected around summer. To complete the domestic ratification process, the parliament still needs to pass related bills concerning rules on products' origin and tariff rates, Japanese officials said. In Malaysia, ratification does not require legislative procedures and only administrative measures are needed, they added. Japan and Malaysia signed the bilateral FTA last December following nearly two years of negotiations. The Southeast Asian country will be the third FTA partner for Japan following Singapore and Mexico. Under the pact, the two countries will do away with tariffs on essentially all industrial goods and most agricultural, forestry and fishery products within 10 years. |