Hayato Niki – Quebec, Canada
The International Co-operative Alliance issued a statement on Thursday, Oct. 9, criticizing the Japanese government’s move to dismantle agricultural co-ops as “counterproductive to the national economy” and violating the principles of co-operatives.
The intended legislation “would diminish the services offered to the farmers and the rural areas,” it said. “In particular, the intention to transform some of the cooperative structures into stock companies through demutualization is an unsound process.”
The statement was announced after the ICA board discussed Japan’s intended restructuring of agricultural co-ops on Monday, Oct. 6, in Quebec.
According to the statement, the board “unanimously approved” the report by the ICA’s study group which noted that the contemplated legislative changes would infringe on the principles of co-operatives.
The statement said that as a trustee of the International Cooperative Principles, recognized by the United Nations, the ICA board believes the planned reform would obviously violate the principles, namely autonomy and independence, democracy and concern for the community.
“Cooperators have to decide by themselves the best way of organizing and developing their activities,” it said, calling on co-ops to conduct self-reform.
The statement also said the ICA will support the Japanese agricultural co-op group in their interactions with the government and international institutions.
“We take the statement as the ICA’s determination to take action if the Japanese government makes any decision counter to the principles of co-operatives in future discussions concerning revision of the JA law,” said an official of the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu). JA-Zenchu officials said the statement indicates that they can also call for support by such international institutions as the International Labor Organization and the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
(Oct. 11, 2014)