Representatives of farmers nationwide gather for a protest rally meeting against Japan-Australia EPA negotiations in Tokyo on Thursday, April 3.
The Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu) and its national political body held a protest rally meeting on Thursday, April 3, in Tokyo to demand that sensitive agricultural products including beef be exempted from negotiations on Japan-Australia economic partnership agreement.
As the two countries are aiming at reaching agreement prior to the summit meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott scheduled on Monday, April 7, some 700 representatives of farmers gathered to ask the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito to keep the resolution adopted in the Diet urging the government to leave out the items in the negotiations for tariff abolishment or reductions.
The two governments’ leaders agreed in December 2006 to begin negotiations for an EPA. Ahead of the summit meeting, the LDP’s agricultural research council approved a resolution demanding that key agricultural products be exempted from the agreement or left for separate negotiations. The resolution was approved at the LDP’s General Council, the party’s highest decision-making body. Based on this resolution, the Lower House committee on agriculture adopted its own resolution, listing beef, dairy products, rice, wheat and sugar as key items.
In the negotiations, Australia is urging for market liberalization of such products as beef. Ministerial negotiations are also scheduled before the summit meeting between Abe and Abbott.
In the protest rally held on Thursday, JA-Zenchu Vice President Toshiaki Tobita asked politicians to keep the resolution, saying that it calls for nothing but an exemption of key agricultural products from tariff eliminations, and that even tariff reductions are unacceptable. Taking into account the fact that the resolution on the EPA led to a resolution concerning the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, Tobita said particular effort is necessary to prevent the government from making one compromise after another in the negotiations for the EPA and rushing into agreements.
In response, the LDP and New Komeito officials expressed understanding for the farmers’ concerns and clearly stated their stance of keeping the resolutions. The officials who gave a speech at the meeting included Gen Nakatani, head of the LDP’s research commission on agriculture, forestry and fisheries strategy, Hiroshi Moriyama, chairman of the LDP’s committee dealing with agricultural trade, Koya Nishikawa, head of the party’s TPP panel and Noritoshi Ishida, chairman of New Komeito’s agriculture and fisheries division.
Hidetoshi Yamashita, chairman of JA’s national youth association, expressed determination to continue fighting to protect key agricultural products, and other participants responded by giving three cheers.
(April 4, 2014)