Farm leader opposed to Japan participating in trans-pacific FTA
Mainichi Japan | October 29, 2010
Farm leader opposed to Japan participating in trans-pacific FTA
TOKYO (Kyodo) — A Japanese farm industry leader Thursday reiterated the industry’s opposition to Japan possibly participating in a trans-Pacific free trade agreement to lower tariffs on agricultural and other products.
Mamoru Moteki, president of the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives, told a press conference that government subsidies to farming families alone cannot prompt farmers to accept Japan’s participation in the FTA.
Even if a government policy secures income for farming families, such an agreement will allow cheap foreign farm products to flood into Japan and will lead the Japanese farm industry to collapse, he said.
The union, known as JA-Zenchu, will stage a rally of some 3,000 farmers against the trans-Pacific FTA in Tokyo when a ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum opens in Yokohama on Nov. 10, Moteki said.
Free trade supporters have urged the government to offer at the Yokohama APEC meetings for Japan to participate in negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will be built on a regional FTA signed by Singapore, New Zealand, Chile and Brunei.
Moteki also noted Japan’s participation in the TPP negotiations may make it difficult for the government to raise the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate to 50 percent over the next decade from around 40 percent in 2007.
"We are firmly opposed to participation in the TPP negotiations that would not be compatible with Japan’s food security," he said.
