Category Archives: Trade Talks

【Interviews】 U.S. flexibility indispensable, head of LDP’s TPP panel says (March 15, 2014)

  Japan should cooperate closely with other countries to make the United States more flexible in negotiating for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, Koya Nishikawa, head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s TPP panel, said in an interview with The Japan Agricultural News, prior to March 15 which marks the one-year anniversary of Japan joining the talks. Nishikawa also expressed strong determination to conclude the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement. Q. What was the LDP’s stance concerning the TPP negotiations in the past year? A. Reaching agreement in the TPP talks is one of the important pillars of the Abe administration’s growth strategy. While Japan’s agricultural industry is under attack from … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Setting a deadline on Japan-Australia EPA negotiations is infringement of Diet resolutions (March 14, 2014)

  Negotiations on the economic partnership agreement between Japan and Australia are starting to get strained, as the two sides try to reach agreement before Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott visits Japan in early April. However, agricultural committees of both the Lower and Upper houses of the Diet have adopted resolutions asking the government to continue negotiating persistently without setting a deadline. Farmers are deeply concerned as a senior Liberal Democratic Party official noted that Japanese negotiators have proposed reducing tariffs on beef. We cannot allow the two governments to negotiate for the sake of meeting deadlines. Ensuring a sustainable future for agriculture is more important than letting political leaders … Continue reading

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【News】 Interview with Akira Banzai, head of the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives – JA-Zenchu – (Feb. 27, 2014)

  After the Trans-Pacific Partnership member countries closed their ministerial meeting in Singapore without reaching any agreement, JA-Zenchu head Akira Banzai told The Japan Agricultural News in an interview that he will continue closely monitoring the TPP negotiations and demanding the government to protect key agricultural products from tariff elimination. Q. How do you evaluate the current situation of the TPP talks? A. In the latest ministerial meeting, as in previous meetings, Japan was in a difficult situation as exporting countries of food products strongly called for tariff cuts, including tariffs on sensitive agricultural items. But I reckon Japanese negotiators and Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers in Singapore worked together to … Continue reading

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【News】 Japanese and Canadian agricultural groups to cooperate on TPP (Feb. 25, 2014)

  Hirobumi Senbongi – Singapore Akira Banzai, head of the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu), met Wally Smith, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, in Singapore on Monday, Feb. 24, and agreed to work together to fight against the United States’ pressure to open agricultural markets. Referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership member countries’ ministerial meeting held in Singapore, Smith told Banzai that countries other than Japan and the U.S. are paying attention to the two nations’ bilateral negotiations on tariffs. His remark reflects Canadian dairy farmers’ hope that Japan will negotiate tenaciously to maintain tariffs on key farm products, as that will make it easier also for Canada … Continue reading

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【News】 Farmers call on the government to protect key agricultural products (Feb. 21, 2014)

  Ahead of the ministerial meeting of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks scheduled to begin on Saturday, Feb. 22, some 800 representatives of farmers nationwide gathered in Tokyo Thursday, Feb. 20, to urge the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to protect farm products. Mitsuo Murakami, vice head of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-Zenchu), pointed out that fears are growing among farmers over reports that Japan is considering making compromises in the TPP negotiations. He said he “is doubtful and even angry toward the government’s hasty, weak-kneed attitude,” and demanded that the government and the LDP keep the resolutions adopted by the party and the Diet’s agricultural … Continue reading

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