Japan Press Weekly

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2011 October 12 - 18 [ECONOMY]

Entry into TPP questioned by most prefectural assemblies

Between October 2010 and the present, assemblies in 42 out of 47 prefectures throughout Japan have adopted resolutions urging the national government to not participate in or carefully reconsider its planned participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade pact.

This was made public by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in response to a request made by Japanese Communist Party House of Councilors Kami Tomoko.

A resolution unanimously adopted in October by the prefectural assembly in Hokkaido, the nation’s major agricultural region, criticizes the Noda Cabinet’s move to take part in the TPP negotiations, saying that the government has failed to present to the public the necessary information to make an informed opinion.

While a full-scale post-disaster reconstruction has not been launched yet, the move toward the TPP participation is hardly acceptable, the resolution condemns. Raising concerns that the removal of tariffs leads to destruction of local economies, it states that the economic loss to Hokkaido alone with an adoption of the TPP is expected to be more than 2.1 trillion yen.

The Saga Prefectural Assembly in September adopted a resolution jointly submitted by all assembly members, stressing that the nation’s entry into the TPP will be a fatal blow to farmers’ reconstruction efforts in the disaster-affected region.

The prefectural assembly in Fukui, in its unanimous resolution adopted in July, calls for all dimensions of agriculture to be developed and a fair trade rule for higher food self-sufficiency rate to be established.