Japan Press Weekly

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2012 March 14 - 20 [ECONOMY]

Gov’t can’t promise to protect Japanese rice from TPP

On March 16 at a House of Representatives Financial Affairs Committee meeting, Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Sasaki Kensho urged the government to not join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade agreement which would open the free import of rice, Japan’s staple food.

Referring to Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko’s remarks in regard to the TPP talks, “I will protect items that should be protected”, Sasaki asked Finance Minister Azumi Jun, “Do you recognize rice as a food item that should be protected?” Azumi answered, “It is hard to determine at this point.”

Sasaki reported that a major supermarket chain plans to sell Chinese rice with prices 20-30% cheaper than Japanese rice at its shops in seven prefectures bordering the Tokyo metropolitan region. He asked if the government thinks Japanese rice can be protected even if a larger quantity of foreign rice is distributed domestically following Japan’s entry into the TPP.

Azumi only answered that the government will try to “protect things that should be protected.”

Sasaki said, “If the government considers rice as an item that should be protected, it should not include rice in the list of items to be considered for free-trade negotiations.”