17-day official campaigning for the Upper House election scheduled on Sunday, July 21, got under way on Thursday, July 4. This will be the first national election for farmers and rural communities to thrust their concerns to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration which announced that Japan will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks.
Japan is expected to enter the TPP negotiations on Tuesday, July 23, right after the election. Also after the election, the government’s Regulatory Reform Council will set on discussing in detail reforms on agricultural regulations. In that sense, the results of the election will have a big influence on the future of Japan’s agriculture. We should vote to send to the Diet politicians who really care about the nation’s agriculture, food safety and security, and rural communities.
Farmers and agricultural cooperatives are feeling unprecedented levels of concern for the upcoming election. Akira Banzai, head of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Zenchu), raises three key issues which the nation’s agricultural sector and JA are facing.
The first issue of concern is the TPP talks. The government is going to join the negotiations which will be held later this month in Malaysia without any clear prospects of whether it can secure the national interests. There is no guarantee that TPP participants will allow Japan to exempt key agricultural products from tariff elimination. Can Japan withdraw from the TPP talks if it cannot secure national interests concerning agriculture, food safety and security and medical systems? Farmers’ concerns are piling up.
The second issue is the establishment of what Abe calls the “new” agricultural policies, which will be put on the table for serious discussion after the election. Abe is pushing on with what he calls “aggressive agriculture,” but do his policies really work for the benefit of farmers? It is vital for farmers to let their voices be heard and be reflected in policymaking.
The third issue is how to counter-argue criticisms on the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA). Some members of the Regulatory Reform Council are calling for reforming of JA or for deregulatory measures such as allowing private sector companies to own farmland. Convincing arguments should be constructed to make such people understand the actual circumstances in the agricultural sector.
As the government plans to create a working group under the council to specifically discuss agricultural reform, we should raise our voices so that farmers’ views are reflected in selecting the members of the group and in the discussion itself.
We should not allow candidates who support such ideas win the election, because it could lead to increasing unfair criticisms on JA and the agricultural sector and speeding up of deregulation. We should support candidates who oppose Japan’s entry in the TPP talks, and make the election a chance to let the 11 TPP member countries know that strong opposition against the TPP scheme exists among the public in Japan. Banzai stressed that as the coming election is attracting attention at home and abroad, JA must fully utilize its organizational power to win this crucial battle.
In this election, JA’s political organizations in each prefecture recommended candidates who take the same positions as JA on such issues as the TPP talks. Based on their recommendations, JA decided to back 38 candidates, including one in proportional representation and 37 in 33 constituencies.
Not only JA-backed candidates but all candidates should be willing to listen sincerely to the voices of farmers who are deeply committed to caring of the nation’s land. We should also carefully watch and evaluate the candidates’ stances and views in making the judgment.
(July 5, 2013)