Japan Press Weekly

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2016 June 22 - 28 [POLITICS]

Abe spreads myth that farmers will benefit from export promotion

The Abe government is boasting that farmers will benefit from growth in Japan’s agricultural product exports. However, the prime minister keeps silent about the fact that Japan has increased food imports greater than exports and is expected to buy even more foods from overseas if the TPP free trade pact is approved by Japan’s parliament and takes effect.

Compared to 2012 when Prime Minister Abe Shinzo took power, the export value of farm, forestry, and maritime products went up by 295 billion yen to 745 billion yen in 2015. Of the total, 443 billion yen was classified as “agricultural products” but half were processed foods. Manufacturers of these products depend largely on imported materials and therefore have little relation with Japan’s farm sector. The current government goal of one trillion yen in exports in farm, forestry, and maritime products includes 500 billion yen of processed food exports.

On the other hand, during the same period of time, the import value of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products rose by 1.6 trillion yen to 9.5 trillion yen, 13 times larger than the total of exports.

The TPP will further increase Japan’s food imports. A report that the U.S. Department of Agriculture published in October 2014 estimates that the multilateral free trade pact will boost the amount of agricultural product trade among the 12 member nations by 8.5 billion dollars. According to the report, Japan will import 78% or 5.8 billion dollars of the total increase in exports. By item, Japan will purchase more meats, rice and other cereals, and dairy products, the report states.

Given that Japan’s net amount of food imports already stands out in the world and is expected to further increase under the TPP framework, the government plan for one-trillion-yen in food exports will have little effect in revitalizing Japan’s farm sector.

Past related article:
> Abe desperately runs negative campaign against opposition alliance [June 15, 2016]