Category Archives: Trade Talks

【Series】 Agricultural policies – Interviews with political parties: Part 1 Ken Saito, director of the Liberal Democratic Party’s agriculture and forestry division (Jan. 28, 2014)

Posted on 2014-01-28 by The Japan Agricultural News

  2014 will be the year when a series of agricultural reform, including the establishment of a Japanese-style direct payment system and the revision of individual-household income compensation, will be implemented by the government t and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The government is also faced with various other issues, such as negotiations under the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks intensifying before spring, and debates starting on the creation of a new basic plan for food, agriculture and rural areas. Along with the opening of the ordinary session of the Diet, The Japan Agricultural News interviewed seven political parties’ lawmakers in charge of agricultural issues, who are preparing to start policy … Continue reading →

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【News】 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stresses drastic agricultural reform at Diet opener (Jan. 25, 2014)

Posted on 2014-01-25 by The Japan Agricultural News

  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened the 150-day ordinary Diet session on Friday, Jan. 24, with a policy speech which reaffirmed his vow to create a “virtuous cycle” of economic recovery and spread it throughout the nation including rural areas. Speaking to the lawmakers at the plenary session of both the Upper and Lower houses, Abe also stressed his determination to conduct drastic agricultural reform, including the establishment of farmland consolidation banks, revision of the government’s control on rice production and introduction of a Japanese-style direct payment system. He stated the need to focus on implementing the growth strategy including deregulation, as well as fiscal reconstruction and social welfare reform. … Continue reading →

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【Analysis】 Geographical indications focus in negotiations with EU (Jan. 15, 2014)

Posted on 2014-01-15 by The Japan Agricultural News

  Senior Staff Writer, Masaru Yamada Geographical indications (GIs) protection is a system aimed at identifying high-quality food products rooted in tradition, culture and geography of particular localities and fighting against counterfeits. The Japanese government has begun working on introducing the system which is already adopted in the European Union. Although it is one of those inconspicuous quality assurance schemes, the system has also been getting attention in recent trade negotiations such as the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks.   The EU is strongly urging Japan to create a law to protect GIs. Dacian Ciolos, European Commissioner for Agricultural and Rural Development who visited Tokyo … Continue reading →

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【News】 US asks South Korea to clear pending issues before joining TPP (Dec. 27, 2013)

Posted on 2013-12-27 by The Japan Agricultural News

  Zhezhu Jin As South Korea considers appealing for membership in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, the United States government is calling on the nation to revise its regulations, including country of origin requirements on processed foods, before entering negotiations. Speaking at a seminar on South Korea’s participation in the TPP talks held in Washington on Thursday, December 12, Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler stressed the need for South Korea to address some pending issues in implementing the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, or KORUS FTA, before joining the TPP talks. Cutler said that in addition to meeting the high-level standard of trade liberalization, South Korea would … Continue reading →

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【Editorial】 Leaked secret TPP documents indicate need for government to disclose information (Dec. 19, 2013)

Posted on 2013-12-19 by The Japan Agricultural News

  Earlier this month, WikiLeaks, a website which posts confidential government materials, released two secret documents that show the state of the behind-the-door negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. One document describes deep divisions between the United States and other member nations, and great pressure being exerted by the U.S. negotiators to move other nations to their position. As the negotiations are expected to continue next year, it would be nonsensical for the Japanese government to make any kind of concessions to U.S.’ unreasonable demands, while ignoring the people’s right to know. It is the government’s responsibility to disclose and explain what is going on. The released document appears … Continue reading →

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