The Upper House committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries decided to send to the United States government and Congress the English version of its resolution adopted in April regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, committee members said Wednesday, June 12. Trade agreements, including the TPP scheme, do not go into effect even after the governments’ negotiations are concluded unless the Diet ratifies them. By sending their resolution to the U.S. which leads the TPP negotiations, Japanese lawmakers aim to convey the clear message in the resolution that the Japanese Diet does not accept elimination of tariffs on key agricultural products such as rice and wheat.
The committee’s board members from both the ruling and opposition parties agreed on Monday, June 10, to send the resolution to the U.S., and to state that the Lower House agricultural committee also has adopted a similar resolution.
The resolution requests the Japanese government, which is expected to join the TPP negotiations in July, to push other TPP participants to exempt key agricultural products – rice, wheat, beef, pork, dairy products and sugar – from tariff cuts or put them aside for renegotiation. It also urges the government to walk away from the negotiation table if such demands are not accepted.
The committee plans to send the resolution, which is now being translated into English, to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and committees in charge of the TPP issues in Congress before the current Diet session ends on Wednesday, June 26.
Yasue Funayama, chairman of the Green Breeze Party’s policy research council who suggested sending the resolution to the U.S., told reporters the same day that it is significant for the Japanese Diet to clearly convey its intention rather than satisfying themselves just by adopting a resolution.
Tetsuro Nomura, the leading committee member of the Liberal Democratic Party, said the resolution will be effective to show the Diet’s policies as it explicitly states which agricultural products should be protected. Akira Gunji, the leading committee member of the Democratic Party of Japan and the member of the party’s shadow cabinet, said they should make this action an important step in protecting the national interests.
The resolution, jointly suggested by the LDP, New Komeito, the DPJ, People’s Life First and Green Breeze Party, was adopted by the agricultural committee on Thursday, April 18. The Lower House committee adopted its resolution the following day.
(June 13, 2013)