Twelve countries negotiating Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) free trade rules, including Japan, reconfirmed at a ministerial meeting Thursday the goal of concluding their talks by the end of this year.

Japan will participate in discussions in a proactive and constructive manner to conclude the TPPA talks by the year-end, Japan's Jiji Press quoted Akira Amari, Japanese minister in charge of TPP negotiations, as saying in the first round of the two-day meeting.

Still, Japan, which joined the negotiations in July, is aiming to maintain its tariffs on five key items including rice and sugar, with Amari pointing out during the day's session that every country has a certain set of important items.

He also defended fishery subsidies in Japan, stressing that the subsidy program is important for international management of fish stocks and is not causing overfishing.

Speaking to reporters after the first-day session, Amari revealed that US Trade Representative Michael Froman expressed his country's eagerness to reach a broad consensus in the TPP talks by October.

The same day, the 12 countries also started a nine-day round of working-level negotiations in this Brunei capital of Bandar Seri Begawan. Japan made its debut in a working group on market access issues including tariffs.

The ministers will issue a joint statement on Friday to wrap up the two-day meeting.

On the sidelines, Amari held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Brunei, Malaysia and Mexico on Thursday. He will have talks with four other ministers, including from Canada and Singapore, on Friday. A meeting between Amari and Froman is also being arranged.

- Bernama