Institut français de recherche sur le Japon à la Maison franco-japonaise (Umifre 19, MEAE-CNRS)

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The European Business Council in Japan is a trade policy advocacy organisation representing European industry in Japan. It has been doing this for soon 50 years. Bjorn Kongstad will give a presentation on its activities with a focus on the EPA, including the preparation, and also on the EBC White Paper, an annual report on the Japanese regulatory environment.

The EBC first presented the idea of a trade agreement between the EU and Japan in the mid 2000’s. While tariffs were high on agricultural products in Japan, industrial goods, which made up for most EU exports, were low, or even non-existing. Hence the EBC suggested an agreement where the focus would also be on NTBs/NTMs as a traditional FTA would not give the EU a substantial benefit.

The second part of the presentation will be spent on the EBC White Paper, and some of its content. The White Paper is one of the tools that the EBC uses to advocate for improvements to the Japanese regulatory environment.

Profil:
Bjorn Kongstad has worked with trade policy for some 20 years in various positions, both for the public sector as well as the private industry. In 2010 he joined the European Business Council in Japan (EBC), where he works as the Policy Director giving advice and recommendations from the European industry in Japan. This advocacy activities are often aimed at the Japanese Government, both national and regional level, but also the European institutions. While at the EBC, Bjorn was heavily involved in the providing the European Commission with not only the opinion of the European industry, but also technical details to help in the negotiations. Before the EBC, he worked for Swedish National Board of Trade for a number of years in addition to the EU Delegation in Tokyo as well as the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. Bjorn Kongstad holds a BA in Economics from Vaxjo University.

Organization: FRIJ-MFJ
Co-organization: CCI France Japon
Support: French Embassy in Japan