Gov’t vows to bolster Japan’s agriculture, eyeing TPP talks – KTIC AM Rural Radio – KTIC

Gov’t vows to bolster Japan’s agriculture, eyeing TPP talks

TOKYO, April 23 (Kyodo) _ The government said Tuesday that it will take steps to bolster Japan’s abating agriculture industry, such as boosting crop exports and promoting intensive farming, with an eye on the country’s entry into talks on the U.S.-led tariff-cutting pact.
The decision came amid lingering concerns that participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade could trigger an influx of cheaper farming products from overseas under lowered tariffs, severely damaging Japan’s heavily protected agricultural sector.
To brush off the fear, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, which has promised to craft its economic growth strategies by June, aims to foster agricultural productivity at home and enhance global competitiveness in the field by opening up new markets abroad.
This marks the first time that the government has revealed concrete proposals to beef up Japan’s agriculture industry since Abe announced last month that the nation intends to join the trade liberalization negotiations.
Ahead of the House of Councillors election this summer, Abe’s administration and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party will do all they can to persuade the public that they are putting emphasis on shoring up the farm sector.
Farm minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a meeting of the industrial competitiveness council that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is planning to set up new bodies in local authorities to strengthen their function to intermediate between lenders and borrowers of farmlands, government officials said.
The measure is aimed at reducing cases of agricultural land being abandoned due to the absence of successors, they said.
Hayashi was also quoted by the officials as saying that he wants to set numerical targets for accelerating intensive farming and decreasing deserted arable land and that his ministry is willing to aggressively use tax payers’ money to attain the goals.
To expand exports of Japanese farming products, a key issue toward the nation’s participation in the TPP talks, the government is considering drawing up strategies by country and by item, they added.
All 11 countries involved in the free trade negotiations officially announced last week they have given the green light to Japan’s entry into the rule-making process.
The 11 member nations are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

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