The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a meeting of the “Headquarters for Japan EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)” on June 16, chaired by Koya Nishikawa, one of the LDP’s key leaders for agricultural and trade policies. A number of LDP’s Diet members attending the meeting shared a common comment that the field of agriculture must not be sacrificed by that of industry at the ongoing trade negotiations between Japan and the European Union. Regarding a controversial agenda of automobile, the Japan-EU talk is deadlocked since Japan has been calling for elimination of EU’s current tariff of 10 percent on Japanese passenger cars as early as possible. Meanwhile, Japan is … Continue reading →

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) invited representatives of farmers’ organizations on July 15 at a meeting of a group of agriculture, forestry and fishery set up in LDP’s Headquarters for Japan EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to ask for their views about ongoing EPA free trade negotiations. Choe Okuno, president of JA ZENCHU (Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives), an apex body of agricultural cooperatives in Japan, called for protection of domestic agriculture through boarder measures including tariffs so as to enable Japanese farmers to continuously produce major commodities. LDP’s Diet members attending the meeting expressed their views supporting Choe Okuno one after another by urging that a Japan-EU EPA … Continue reading →