The proposals on agricultural cooperatives, released on Friday, Nov. 11, by the government’s Regulatory Reform Promotion Council, are apparently targeted at shifting focus of debate on agricultural coops reform back to drastic dismantling of the farm coops group which hit the headlines two years before. The key points of the proposals include abolishing the system of farmers entrusting sales of their products to the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH) and transferring primary farm coops (JAs)’ financial business to Norinchukin Bank. Such measures could threaten agricultural cooperatives’ businesses and do not in any way lead to realizing the initial aim of agricultural coops reform, which is to boost agricultural … Continue reading →

An agricultural working group of the Council for Promotion of Regulatory Reform, Government’s advisory panel, which is chaired by Yasufumi Kanamaru, president of Future Architect, Inc., announced a proposal on agricultural reform on November 11. The working group first recommends that ZEN-NOH (National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Association) or a national business organization of agricultural cooperatives (JAs) should abolish its existing business system of marketing farm products which is based on consignment practice, and launch a new system of purchasing products from farmers to sell them in the market at its own risk. The Shinzo Abe’s administration advisory panel also urges that a half of some 660 agricultural cooperatives (JAs) … Continue reading →