Government seeks 50% increase in self-sufficiency rate while promoting liberalization of agricultural imports

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Government seeks 50% increase in self-sufficiency rate while promoting liberalization of agricultural imports

The Hatoyama government on March 30 approved a basic plan on agriculture for the next decade.

In the plan, the government set a goal to increase the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate to 50% on a calorie basis in FY2020 without providing any evidence of its feasibility.

The Hatoyama Cabinet already decided to reduce the agricultural budget for FY2010. In addition, the amount of government subsidy for each rice farmer’s income support is not enough to survive on and it is unclear that whether the government intends to continue the support after next year.

The basic plan states that the government will make efforts to reach a free trade agreement (FTA) and an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with certain nations. This shows the government intention to promote liberalization of agricultural imports while calling for raising the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate.

An FTA is a trade agreement among two or more countries under which all tariffs are eliminated in principle. In order to conclude an FTA, it is necessary for the Japanese government to accept the import of agricultural products with zero-tariff in return for exporting Japanese industrial products with zero-tariff. The government must cancel its negotiations on FTAs with Australia and the U.S., both of which are major agricultural-exporting countries.

An increase in demand for food and many countries’ policies to tighten food-export controls caused food shortages and prompted riots in some countries.

The government should increase the agricultural budget with an emphasis on price support for agricultural products and income support for farmers, and make genuine efforts to revitalize Japanese agriculture.

- Akahata, March 31, 2010