Tag Archives: Editorial

  Campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks is spreading beyond the agricultural sector to include university professors, lawyers and other citizens. Citizens’ groups and the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives plan to hold a protest rally with some 2,000 participants in Tokyo on Saturday, May 25. People from various different groups are now voicing opposition to the TPP which they say will lead to the devastation of the country. In July, Japan is expected to join the TPP negotiations and the Upper House elections will be held. It is time for us to raise a cry of protest and go out on the streets to let the voices of farmers and … Continue reading →

  The Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, where negotiations for tariff elimination and revision of rules led by the United States are conducted in parallel, will enter a new phase. The TPP participants will discuss Japan’s entry into the TPP in the round of talks which was expected to start on Wednesday, May 15, in Peru. The TPP is an absurd scheme which differs completely from other trade negotiations. We must closely watch the discussions by the 11 participating countries and face the fact that our food and our lives are actually being threatened. To begin with, we should question the “strong diplomacy” which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised to … Continue reading →

  Office of the United States Trade Representative notified Congress of its intent to allow Japan to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. USTR, however, emphasized the point that Japan promised it will subject all goods – including agricultural products — to negotiation. There is no guarantee at all on whether Japan can protect key agricultural products from tariff elimination. The U.S. also demanded that Japan address non-tariff measures such as food safety regulations in parallel with the TPP negotiations. The Japanese government should withdraw from the negotiations if it cannot protect the Japanese people’s lives and the rural community. In its notification letter to Congress, USTR stressed that Japan … Continue reading →

  Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks is going to come true in July. With the backing of approval by 11 Pacific Rim nations involved in the talks, the United States government was expected to seek congressional approval for the country to formally allow Japan in to the talks. As the Japanese government rushed to receive consent from the TPP participants for Japan to join the talks, it has made significant concessions in the preparatory negotiations. It was also asked by the U.S. to improve non-tariff measures in line with the TPP negotiations. This practically means negotiations will become like those for a bilateral free trade agreement. This … Continue reading →

  The Upper House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries made a resolution concerning Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, saying that the government should withdraw from the TPP negotiations if the national interests are not protected. The Lower House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is expected to make a similar resolution. It is the Diet’s manifestation of strong concerns over the TPP negotiations, which it says could give a serious damage not only on the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector but on people’s lives as a whole. The resolution of the Diet, the supreme authority of state power, is of great significance, and the government should … Continue reading →