Trade ministers in 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries charted a path to concluding negotiations in 2013—and allowing Japan to join the TPP negotiations in progress. The next round of talks is set for May 15-24, 2013, in Lima, Peru, and will include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Ministers are committed to dealing with hot-button issues such as intellectual property rights, state-owned enterprises, environmental concerns, market access packages and government procurement. With Japan’s entry into the TPP, the partner countries would account for nearly 40 percent of global GDP and about one-third of all world trade.