July 29, 2017
Representatives of the Japanese Communist Party in Hokkaido on July 28 at a meeting with Agriculture Ministry officials in Tokyo demanded that the basic agreement of the Japan-EU EPA be retracted, saying that the free-trade pact will deliver a heavy blow to farmers in Hokkaido.
Hatayama Kazuya and Kami Tomoko, JCP Dietmembers elected from Hokkaido, and other local JCP assemblypersons submitted to State Minister of Agriculture Saito Ken a petition calling for a repeal of the basic agreement which the Abe government made earlier this month in defiance of public criticism. The petition was jointly drawn up by the JCP Hokkaido Prefectural Committee and the JCP Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly members’ group.
The petition stresses that the Japan-EU free-trade agreement will eliminate tariffs on European soft cheese and will devastate the dairy industry in Hokkaido, Japan’s top dairy area. The document criticizes the Abe government for making the framework agreement without assessing how negatively the trade deal would impact domestic industries. It urges the government to make an estimate of the EPA’s economic impact and publish it without delay.
JCP Member of the Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly Mashita Noriko noted that many municipal governments together with dairy farmers working to encourage production of wine and cheese as local specialties, expressing her fear that tariff cuts on these foods by the EPA would hamper these local efforts to revitalize the local economy.
Past related articles:
> Gov’t without divulging EPA details to public reaches agreement with EU [July 7, 2017]
> Farmers urge the gov’t not to reach basic agreement with EU on EPA [July 4, 2017]
Hatayama Kazuya and Kami Tomoko, JCP Dietmembers elected from Hokkaido, and other local JCP assemblypersons submitted to State Minister of Agriculture Saito Ken a petition calling for a repeal of the basic agreement which the Abe government made earlier this month in defiance of public criticism. The petition was jointly drawn up by the JCP Hokkaido Prefectural Committee and the JCP Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly members’ group.
The petition stresses that the Japan-EU free-trade agreement will eliminate tariffs on European soft cheese and will devastate the dairy industry in Hokkaido, Japan’s top dairy area. The document criticizes the Abe government for making the framework agreement without assessing how negatively the trade deal would impact domestic industries. It urges the government to make an estimate of the EPA’s economic impact and publish it without delay.
JCP Member of the Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly Mashita Noriko noted that many municipal governments together with dairy farmers working to encourage production of wine and cheese as local specialties, expressing her fear that tariff cuts on these foods by the EPA would hamper these local efforts to revitalize the local economy.
Past related articles:
> Gov’t without divulging EPA details to public reaches agreement with EU [July 7, 2017]
> Farmers urge the gov’t not to reach basic agreement with EU on EPA [July 4, 2017]
