Category Archives: Farm Policy

Faced with auto tariff, Japan agrees to enter trade talks with US

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 ― Japan has agreed to begin negotiations for a trade agreement on goods (TAG) with the United States, in a move that may shield Tokyo from the U.S.’s proposed harsh tariffs on Japanese vehicle imports, for the time being. The new trade talks will start after the two sides complete necessary domestic procedures, which will likely happen early next year. On Sept. 26, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met U.S. President Donald Trump in New York at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. “The new trade talks will focus on goods and this is not a negotiation for a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA),” … Continue reading

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Japan’s farm ministry launches export assessment services

TOKYO, Sept. 1 ― Japan’s agriculture ministry is ready to help farmers find markets to export their products. Japan’s agriculture ministry has launched the Global Farmers Project (GFP), which offers export assessment for farmers and matchmaking services to let farmers match with traders for exports. Farmers can create their online profiles; they need to fill out additional requirement information including their export products, volume and destinations that they are interested in. The agriculture ministry, with the help of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Tokyo-based wholesaler Tokyo Seika Co. and others who have farm export expertise, will assess farmers’ profiles and offer them advices.

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Japan pushes ASEAN members to ratify seed patent UPOV

TOKYO, Aug. 26 ― Japan has been pushing its neighboring countries to build an intellectual property protection system to protect businesses in the cultivation of new plant species and seed protection in East Asia. The East Asia Plant Variety Protection Forum held the 11th annual meeting in Muntinlupa, Philippines on Aug. 1-2. Member countries — Japan, China, South Korea and 10 Southeast Asian states –agreed to accelerate ratification of the International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV) 1991 Convention in the next 10 years. But few ASEAN members have ratified the convention, as they fear it may increase global corporations’ monopolistic control over small farmers in the seed … Continue reading

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Japan food exports rise in July, led by beef and dairy products

TOKYO, Sept. 13 ― Japan’s food exports rose for the fifth consecutive month in July, thanks largely to appetite for wagyu beef and dairy products in neighboring Asian countries, official data has showed. Total shipments of agriculture products, processed foods and seafood rose 18% to 70.5 billion yen in July, which was 10.9 billion yen higher in the same month a year earlier, according to the agriculture ministry. The primary agricultural products, which constitute half of total agricultural exports, increased 16% to 45.8 billion yen. China was by far the largest growth market increasing by 40 percent in July from a year ago, or 10.1 billion yen. Exports to Hong … Continue reading

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Japan’s farm group chairman raises concern on US trade talks

TOKYO, Sept. 7 ― Japan’s largest farmers’ group chairman, Toru Nakaya, has told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the country’s farmers are concerned if Tokyo would accept the U.S. demands under a new framework on bilateral trade issues. The meeting took place at the prime minister’s office on Sept. 6, one day before the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race campaign officially began. Abe has made his bid for a third term as the LDP president and thus retain his position as the prime minister. “During our meeting, the prime minister assumed me that he would not accept any terms with the U.S. that go beyond the TPP,” said … Continue reading

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