The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement was signed by twelve countries including Japan at a ceremony held in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 4. All the provisions in the text of the TPP pact have been finalized.
TPP member countries are now required to take necessary steps to promote domestic procedures. The Government of Japan plans to submit to the current Diet session a bid for ratification of the TPP agreement and TPP-related bills in order to prepare for an early implementation of the agreement.
Japan has made a commitment to the United States of America and other partners to drastically reduce import tariffs on key products including beef and pork as well as to eliminate the tariffs on a lot of agricultural commodities.
When the TPP pact officially takes effect, Japanese agriculture will be forced to enter a new stage of the most liberalized market that it has ever experienced. Farmers have been unprecedentedly concerning about impacts of TPP’s free trade agreement. They are deeply skeptical whether governmental TPP-related measures will reduce their painful damages which will be caused by the TPP pact.
The Government is urged to provide local farmers with full information which persuades them to adequately understand how the governmental measures will be effective enough to alleviate their concerns.
(Feb. 5, 2016)