Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 September 5 - 11 [AGRICULTURE]

Agriculture in subordination to US - III: Door opened for further rice imports

Against a background of trade liberalization of agricultural products, there was a move to change Japan’s economic structure in accordance with market fundamentalism.

In April 1984, a report was published by a private advisory panel of Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, who argued that Japan and the United States “share a common destiny.”

It reflected the findings of a report compiled by the Advising Committee on Japan-U.S. Relations, which was established at a time when the bilateral economic friction intensified with the increase in Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S.

Calling for domestic implementation of agricultural policies to deal with “the era of internationalization,” the panel’s report stressed the importance of the free market mechanism. It proposed further promotion for liberalization of agricultural imports by stating, “The government needs to improve market access of imports of restricted goods with a future perspective toward further opening of domestic markets.”

The door for rice imports was opened on December 14, 1993, when Prime Minister Hosokawa Morihiro announced at a press conference that Japan will accept arbitration plans of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Uruguay Round.

With this, Japan accepted tariffication of products other than rice and the minimum access of rice imports.

Subordinate to WTO

A major turning point in the process of the deterioration of domestic agriculture was Japan’s decision to subordinate its agriculture and food-related policies to World Trade Organization (WTO) treaties.

On December 8, 1994, the WTO treaty in accordance with the Uruguay Round Agreement and related laws passed through the Diet.

The Japanese Communist Party said in a statement published on the same day, “To depend on the supply of our staple food of rice on foreign countries and relax food safety regulations under the thumb of multinational corporations will threaten citizens’ health and lives as well as undermine the foundation of the independence of the state.”

>Agriculture in subordination to US - I: Road to more imports of US farm surplus

>Agriculture in subordination to US - II: beef and citrus imports liberalized

>Agriculture in subordination to US - IV: Ill effects expected from TPP

>Agriculture in subordination to US - V: Food sovereignty a must