Tag Archives: Editorial

【Editorial】 What challenges are Prime Minister Shinzo Abe really facing? (Jan. 23, 2016)

  “We will resolutely take on challenges, no matter how difficult the issue might be,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during his key policy speech delivered before the Diet, expressing his determination to tackle issues faced by the nation and come up with answers. Giving special focus on the farm sector, Abe stressed the positive economic impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement and pledged to boost new agricultural policies. However, we cannot deny that a large gap exists between Abe’s stance and that of the farming industry. Rather than listening to hopes and dreams without real solutions, farmers are waiting eagerly for a specific roadmap based on hard realities. … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Liberalization of dairy market threatens Japan’s cheese industry (Dec. 11, 2015)

  Concerns are growing over the impact of market liberalization on dairy farmers. Many fear that cuts and abolishment of tariffs on cheese under the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement could severely hamper development of domestic cheese production, which has been a major pillar of the nation’s dairy policy. Now is the time for the government and the private sector to work together to review the policy to cope with expected challenges. Japan Dairy Association (J-Milk) believes that adverse effects of the TPP agreement cannot be avoided, although details of the agreement need to be examined thoroughly. Tariffs on skim milk powder and butter will remain unchanged and the new low-tariff quota … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement poses risk of triggering chain of market liberalization (Nov. 17, 2015)

  A number of multinational summit meetings are scheduled this week. We should pay particular attention to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting and the Trans-Pacific Partnership summit meeting which will be held on the sidelines of the APEC meeting. The two summit meetings will be the first to be held after the TPP member nations reached an agreement, and the meetings should be the place to discuss realistic trade liberalization on the premise of the diversity of the Asia-Pacific region. The agricultural market liberalization policies adopted under the TPP scheme are too extreme, and could lead to a large drop in the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate. The Group of … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and regulatory reform – issues that could undermine national sovereignty (Oct. 23, 2015)

  The Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks have two major premises: elimination of tariffs on all items in principle and creation of high-level trade and investment rules. A broad agreement reached under the TPP has sent shock waves among farmers as it virtually meant total liberalization of the agriculture industry, but at the same time, the agreement on rules will influence other industries and people’s lives. In addition, Japan and the United States are expected to sign a bilateral agreement which states that the Japanese government will ask for opinions of foreign investors in conducting regulatory reform and make them subject to discussion at the Regulatory Reform Council. The final document … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 After security laws comes TPP (Sept. 26, 2015)

  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a press conference on Friday, Sept. 25, ahead of the closing of the Diet session two days after, and reaffirmed the significance of the security legislation which was passed in the Diet after heated arguments. Various challenges for the future were left in the Diet session, where many important bills were passed, including the one to revise the Agricultural Co-operative Society Law. Abe is scheduled to visit the United States starting Saturday, Sept. 26. Farmers are worried that his next target after the security laws would be to forcibly conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. We strongly call on the government to follow the … Continue reading

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