Japanese farmers oppose premier's push for free trade (Feature)

By Takehiko Kambayashi Nov 13, 2010, 6:23 GMT

Yokohama, Japan - As Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has pushed toward a United States-backed trade liberalization, farmers fear the move could wipe out Japan's agricultural sector.

'The government does not understand the potential impact of a free trade on Japan's agriculture sector,' Takeshi Sasaki, a rice farmer in Miyagi, said. The trade pact 'is one of the most pressing national security issues.'

The government's decision Tuesday to begin consultations with other Pacific Rim nations, which are pursuing the proposed trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), prompted thousands of farmers to protest in the streets.

The TPP is regarded as one of the most important topics at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, where leaders of 21 Pacific Rim economies discussed trade liberalization and economic growth Saturday.

But even many lawmakers of Kan's Democratic Party of Japan expressed concerned about how the proposed trade pact could affect the fragile, tariff-protected farming sector, as the pact seeks to eliminate all tariffs among its member countries within 10 years.

The proposal is currently under negotiation among nine counties including the United States, Singapore, Peru, Australia and New Zealand.

In Japan, most agriculture is done by small-scale family farms. The farming population is also rapidly aging, as people over 60 years of age make up 70 per cent of the nation's 3 million farmers, according to the government's Statistics Bureau.

Many young people migrate to cities to seek job opportunities. That has made agricultural growth sluggish for decades. Prices of farm products are low due in part to bureaucratic distribution systems, and many farmers say they struggle to make ends meet.

'Farmers have long had a hard time even before the start of the discussion on a free trade,' said Seiju Sugeno, a rice farmer and community leader in Nihonmatsu, north-eastern Japan.

In Nihonmatsu, the number of farming households has fallen by half since 1960, local government figures showed. Currently, about 350 families live entirely on farming, 10 times fewer than 45 years ago.

Sasaki said the country would have to depend on imports for most of what Japanese people eat, without long-awaited reform in the agriculture sector.

'The country should keep a certain level of its food self-sufficiency ratio,' he said.

Japan's food self-sufficiency ratios are just around 40 per cent, the lowest among major industrialized countries.

The 2008 scandals over Chinese-made frozen dumplings contaminated with pesticide sparked a nationwide food scare, making many Japanese consumers shy away from frozen imports and become aware of the low ratio of food self-sufficiency.

Business leaders have urged Kan repeatedly to join the TPP negotiations at a time when the appreciation of the Japanese currency has hurt exporters, some of whom threaten to move their factories abroad.

Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the business lobby Japan Business Federation, on Friday again urged the government to swiftly join the TPP. He said participation is important to many Japanese companies that do business in the region.

Yonekura said the group 'is calling on the Japanese government to participate in the TPP negotiations as soon as possible and get involved in its rule making.'

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