Takanori Okabe, Satomi Tamai and Hayato Niki – Atlanta
The 12 member nations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks reached a landmark agreement at a ministerial meeting held in Atlanta on Monday, Oct. 5, which represents a major turning point for Japan’s agriculture in the years to come.
As for the most controversial issue of rice, Japan has agreed to establish new import quotas for the United States and Australia totaling 78,400 tons. Under the agreement, Japan will have to further open its markets for other farm products as well.
The agreement was reached Monday after marathon negotiating sessions in Atlanta through the weekend over such thorny issues as the period of patent protection for next-generation biotech drugs and access to dairy markets. Japan and the U.S. have also agreed in the bilateral negotiations on remaining issues including Japan setting a special quota for imports of U.S. rice.
“We think it helps define the rules of the road for the Asia-Pacific region,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said at a press conference after the meeting.
The government plans to set up a headquarters later this week to come up with measures to support farm sectors which will be affected by the agreement. Meanwhile, the U.S. law states that the U.S. president has to notify U.S. Congress 90 days before signing a trade agreement, which means the Japanese government can only submit TPP-related bills to the Diet in the beginning of next year.
The final round of ministerial negotiations in Atlanta began on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and Akira Amari, minister in charge of the talks, told reporters on Sunday, Oct. 4, that they are close to striking a deal. However, negotiations went on into the following day, as they had got stuck over the question of monopoly period for biotech drugs, as well as some bilateral tariff negotiations.
(Oct. 6, 2015)