Fishery workers protest against WTO negotiations for liberalizing trade in fishery products

About 2,000 fishery workers on August 27 staged a demonstration in Tokyo in protest against a WTO proposal for the further liberalization of trade in fishery products.

The WTO Ministerial Conference will be held from September 10 to 14 in Cancun, Mexico. Chairman Pierre-Louis Girard has submitted proposals for abolishing tariffs on and expanding imports of fish and fishery products.

Speaking on behalf of the organizers of the demonstration, National Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations Chair Uemura Masaharu pointed out that Japan already imports 25 percent of the world's fish and fishery products on the international market, holding down the prices of the food, which in turn triggers excessive competition in the fishery industry and lowers Japan's self-sufficiency ratio.

Uemura stressed that WTO negotiations should be based on respect for the idea of "sustainable development." (end)