Hirobumi Senbongi – Bali, Indonesia
Koya Nishikawa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s committee on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, told the leader of the New Zealand dairy industry on Monday, October 7, that Japan will not accept elimination of tariffs on dairy products.
Malcolm Bailey (left), chairman of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, speaks with Kimiya Nishikawa, head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s committee on TPP affairs in Bali on Monday, October 7.
In a meeting with Malcolm Bailey, chairman of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, Nishikawa handed him the text of the resolutions adopted by the upper and lower houses of the Diet, which state that tariff cuts on key agricultural products cannot be accepted, including phase-outs over a period of more than ten years.
“There are things which should be carefully taken care of in the TPP talks, and (protecting) five key agricultural products (which are rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products and sugar) is our prime concern,” Nishikawa said. “We cannot accept zero tariffs.”
While showing understanding for situations within Japan, Bailey, also director of Fonterra, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, said the Japanese agricultural industry will develop further if Japan liberalizes its markets.
Nishikawa reportedly asked the association to give advice to the dairy industry in Hokkaido so that they can increase exports of dairy products, and agreed to strengthen cooperation with the association.
Hiroshi Moriyama, vice chairman of the LDP’s TPP affairs committee, also attended the meeting.
Diet members of other political parties who are in charge of agricultural issues, including Takashi Shinohara of the Democratic Party of Japan and Tomoko Kami of the Japanese Communist Party, were also in Bali to gather information on the TPP negotiations from government officials.
(Oct. 8, 2013)