Akira Banzai, president of JA Zenchu in the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Friday
The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-Zenchu) submitted a written comment to the United States Trade Representative on Friday, June 7, concerning Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. The statement said it “is regrettable” that the Japanese government expressed its intention to join the TPP talks and that the 11 TPP negotiating countries including the U.S. approved Japan’s entry. It stressed that agriculture, which is essential to sustaining people’s lives and health, should be handled differently from other industrial sectors in the TPP negotiations. It also referred to the resolutions adopted by the agriculture, forestry and fisheries committees of both the Upper and Lower Houses of the Diet which stated that sensitive agricultural products must be excluded from tariff eliminations, and said that the Diet has made “a sensible decision” in calling on the government to walk away from the negotiating table if such exceptions cannot be secured.
The comment, submitted by JA-Zenchu President Akira Banzai, underlined the need to maintain tariffs on sensitive agricultural products, saying that considering the diverse conditions of agricultural production in the Trans-Pacific region, “across-the-board elimination of border measures cannot be considered a fair measure.”
The comment also criticizes the TPP principles of eliminating tariffs and other barriers to goods and services trade and investment, saying that they lack the perspective of protecting the farmers’ interests. “Agriculture, as an indispensable industry to sustain health and livelihood of people, deserves a separate, sensible and different way of handling from other industries,” it said, emphasizing the importance of agriculture and farmers.
It points to the excessive secrecy of the TPP negotiations as “a major problem.” It expresses fears that the TPP negotiations, as a result of placing too much priority on trade promotion, underestimate the role of intellectual properties related to food and agriculture, such as trademarks, geographical indications and genetic resources, and deregulate rules and standards regarding food safety. It also said that stricter rules against export control measures should be introduced to ensure food and energy security.
It showed the results of a number of opinion polls conducted in Japan concerning the TPP talks, including the fact that 68% of the polled responded “depending on the outcome of the TPP talks, leaving the negotiating table is an acceptable choice,” and that 66.9% of the people “expressed anxiety about the possible increase of the dependency on food imports as a result of participating in the TPP talks.”
In order to develop U.S. negotiating positions on issues related to Japan’s participation in the TPP talks, USTR invites comments from interested persons, due by Sunday, June 9. The comments will be made public.
– Japanese agricultural cooperative union head expresses bitter-end opposition against Japan’s entry in TPP-
The Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks have adverse effects not only on agricultural production but also on related industries and other sectors such as medical services, said Akira Banzai, president of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-Zenchu).
“We oppose to Japan’s participation in the TPP talks to the bitter end,” Banzai said, speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Issues addressed in the talks are closely related to the people’s lives and could even pose a serious threat to national sovereignty, he said.
In the press conference, aimed at conveying JA-Zenchu’s message worldwide through foreign media, Banzai indicated that Japan’s agricultural output is estimated to drop drastically, referring to the Japanese government’s estimate of the possible economic impacts of joining the TPP talks. He also said that related industries, which are not included in the government’s estimate, will also suffer damage, as well as the reconstruction of the areas hit by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
He stressed that his group shares with agricultural groups in other nations concerns over policies excessively inclined to free trade. He cited that agricultural groups worldwide agreed at the general assembly of the World Farmers Organization held in April in Niigata that the agricultural sector needs to be treated separately from other industrial sectors in a trade agreement, and that JA-Zenchu issued a joint statement with the U.S.’ National Farmers Union representing family farmers to express strong concerns over the TPP negotiations.
(June 8, 2013)