Japan Press Weekly

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2009 January 14 - 20 [AGRICULTURE]

Over 200 local assemblies adopt a petition demanding cancellation of ‘MA rice’ imports

The National Federation of Farmers’ Movement (Nouminren) has announced that over 200 local assemblies are supporting its demand that Japan cancel or suspend tariff-free rice imports under WTO minimum access (MA) requirements.

Last year, Nouminren called on about 500 local assemblies throughout the country to demand cancellation or suspension of ‘MA rice’ imports, and 40 percent of them actually adopted such resolutions.

In December, when tainted ‘MA rice’ was discovered, even local assemblies which had ignored Nouminren petitions adopted resolutions.

In calling on local assemblies in Ibaraki Prefecture to support their demand, Nouminren emphasized that tainted imported rice was illegally sold within the country because the government imported the full amount of unnecessary ‘MA rice’ under the pretext that it is an obligation for Japan to implement the WTO minimum access agreement.

Nouminren also pointed out that forcible reduction in rice production is outrageous because the government imports 770,000 tons of foreign rice while more and more people of the world are going hungry.

In its regular December session, the Ishioka City Assembly adopted a unanimous statement expressing support for the Nouminren petition by stating, “We are very concerned about increasing rice imports at a time when the rice price is declining due to a collapse of the supply-demand balance.”

In Fukushima Prefecture, 27 out of 36 local assemblies, including the prefectural assembly, adopted the petition.

Regarding this situation, Nakai Shin’ya, a member of Nouminren Hamadori office, said, “In the past, there were several local assemblies, including the Soma City Assembly, that used to decline the adoption of Nouminren petitions. This time, they did not refuse our petition. This proves that even conservative forces-controlled local assemblies are taking the situation seriously.”