Large food growing area Hokkaido threatened by TPP

Japan Press Weekly

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Large food growing area Hokkaido threatened by TPP

The Tokachi region of Hokkaido Prefecture is Japan's major dairy and farming area. Often described as being 1100 percent self-reliant, it has been the largest nation's food supplier. This "kingdom of food" is now threatened by the government's sudden declaration to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact.

On November 5, the prefectural government's Tokachi General Subprefectural Bureau released a shocking estimate: Japan's entry into the TPP will cause the Tokachi region to lose 503.7 billion yen and 40,000 jobs in total. Regional production of wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, beef, and pork will be destroyed. Its quantity of dairy production will also decline rapidly.

‘No way to compete'

Otofuke Town in the Tokachi region produces all the products used in the estimate above. With a population of 45,000, it harvests the largest amount of wheat in Japan.

"Of course we farmers have fears. If agricultural imports are all liberalized, all of us are dead," said Nakamura Sadaji, a farmer of Otofuke Town.

The size of farmland for each farmhouse in the town is 20 to 30 hectares on average and 100 hectares at the largest. Farmers from the mainland Japan are often surprised at the large size of farmholdings.

A local farmer said, however, "We were shocked to see the farming areas in Australia. Their farmland is too large to harvest everything with tractors, and the area which was left without being harvested is about the same size as the land for one farm here. There is no way we can compete with them."

"It's like the government is telling small farmers to quit. (The TPP) includes potatoes, beets, and all the other crops we produce. Then, our crop rotation system will be destroyed," said Shibata Kenichi, a local agricultural co-operative leader. Most of farmers in the town are growing wheat, beets, and potatoes in the same area in sequential seasons in order to avoid soil depletion.

Otofuke Town has a factory of a local milk brand created by Hokkaido's JA (Agricultural Co-operative Association). The construction of a new factory is underway next to the existing one. Nearly 600 people are working at the factory and related businesses.

"Tokachi's economy is founded on agricultural related businesses. Agricultural products must be transported by truck and rail. Farm equipment makers, packing firms, food processing businesses, and gas stations, will all be put out of business with the TPP," said Nakamura.

Hokkaido mainly lives on farm-related businesses. Shipments in the food industry account for 35.2 percent of all industries in Hokkaido. Compared from 10.3 percent in Japan as a whole, agriculture and its related businesses occupy the most important position in the Hokkaido economy. In one of the agricultural towns, for instance, 64 percent or 6,800 out of a total 10,700-workforce of the town are engaged in farm-linked jobs. Thus, if the central government concludes the free-trade TPP, the impact will extend beyond farmers.

Transport industry will also be hit

"More than 90 percent of our guests are regular customers," boasted Kobayashi Teruo, general manager of Hotel Tokachi-gawa. He said, "Our patrons love our restaurant because we use only fresh ingredients we directly purchase from local farmers. If we cannot serve good fresh food due to the aftermath of Japan's entry into the TPP, who will come to our restaurant?"

Kida Masami who runs a carrier business said, "Tokachi has three sugar processing factories and hundreds of trucks are now transporting sugar beets. The number of cargo trucks in Tokachi is not enough so trucks from Hakodate and Wakkanai also come in and out. The TPP entry will destroy wheat and beet production and 80 percent of potato production will also be affected. If that becomes the case, we, the carriers, will no longer be in business. You might argue, ‘Then, you can carry imported products.' But I would say that only major logistics service companies such as Nippon Express will be able to survive in a transport industry dependent on imports."

Anxieties increasing

In Hiroo Town, the other town facing the Pacific Ocean in the Tokachi region, Tsurusawa Eizaburo who runs a shellfish shipping business said, "We are already having business difficulties. Cheap fish will come in from outside after the removal of tariffs and will have a negative impact on domestic fish, shellfish, crabs, and other sea products. Especially on salmon, according to my friend in the same business."

The Hokkaido Prefectural Government estimates that the damage to the value of fishery production will be more than 53 billion yen: 17.6 billion yen for scallops, 11.2 billion yen for seaweed, and 11.8 billion yen for cod. The forestry industry will suffer damage amounting to 3.3 billion yen, the prefecture calculates.

The local agricultural cooperative (JA Hokkaido Chuokai), the Hokkaido Economic Federation, the local consumers' association, the local fisheries cooperative, and the local forest owners' cooperative association together expressed their opposition to Japan's entry into the TPP. The Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly in an adopted resolution also opposes the central government's intention to join the TPP. The Hokkaido governor said, "Hokkaido alone will suffer the loss of more than 2.1 trillion yen in the economy and will lose 170,000 jobs. We will inevitably face the collapse of the local economy."

Hokkaido, the nation's largest food supplier, is now posing the fundamental question of how this country should be steered.

- Akahata, November 19, 2010