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Japan, ASEAN finish concluding free trade pact

2008-04-15T05:02:06-07:00

Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said Monday they had finished signing a deal to close out trade barriers between the world’s second-largest economy and the 10-member bloc.

The deal, which is set to come into effect later this year, was formally signed Monday by Malaysia, the last of the 10 members of the ASEAN bloc to sign off.

In a joint statement, Japan and the ASEAN said they looked forward to the early operation of the agreement, saying it would provide "a strong impetus for further invigoration of trade and investment in the region."

Under the pact, which was finalised in November, about 90 percent of trade between Asia’s largest economy and the ASEAN bloc will be tariff-free within 10 years.

It will be the first multinational free trade agreement (FTA) for Japan, which also has been seeking to conclude a flurry of bilateral pacts amid a breakdown in global trade negotiations.

Japan, ASEAN sign free trade accord

2008-03-29T20:48:50-07:00

Japan signed a free trade agreement Friday with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote trade and investment between the two sides.

Under the accord, Japan will eliminate tariffs on 93 percent by value of imports from ASEAN within 10 years while six major ASEAN members — Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — will abolish tariffs on 90 percent of imports from Japan within 10 years in terms of both value and the number of items.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura signed the agreement with the 10-member body, and the document, which will come into effect in Fall, is expected to be endorsed by respective ASEAN members within April.

The deal was finalized last November after two and a half years of negotiations. The two sides have been fine-tuning the wording and other procedures ever since.

Japan stance threatens free trade

2008-03-14T10:48:27-07:00

The Japanese Government has refused to offer Australia any serious concessions on agricultural import tariffs, the major barrier to a free trade agreement between the two countries. This stance could jeopardize the FTA negotiation, which started in early 2007 on the basis that Japan and Australia would seek a comprehensive agreement that extended to agricultural market access, the most sensitive aspect from Tokyo’s viewpoint.

Australian officials left Tokyo after four days of FTA talks describing the Japanese stance on agriculture as "very disappointing". Japanese negotiators told the Australians their Government had not wavered from its position that existing levels of protection on beef, dairy products, wheat, rice and sugar should stand and they also wanted further exclusions — items on which there would be no offer of a tariff reduction.

The five named commodities account for more than 80 percent of Australia’s farm trade with Japan and, from the outset when then prime ministers John Howard and Shinzo Abe agreed to launch the negotiation in late 2006, the Japanese were told an FTA without serious concessions on those items would be politically untenable in Australia.

Mr. Abe’s cabinet withstood a fierce, short rebellion by the Liberal Democratic Party’s rural rump seeking to prevent agricultural protection even being negotiated in the FTA talks. But since suffering serious electoral losses last July and losing Mr. Abe soon afterwards, Yasuo Fukuda’s Government appears to have given ground to the farm lobby.

Japan, which is unable to supply more than 40 percent of its own food requirements, imposes a 38 percent tariff on Australian beef, more than 200 percent on wheat, about 770 percent on rice and 218 percent on butter.

Japan’s EPA strategy targets East Asia

2008-02-16T05:08:13-08:00

Japan hopes to sign EPAs with as many as 16 countries in East Asia, including member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations like the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, as well as China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. The world’s second largest economy, next to the United States, already signed bilateral trade agreements with Singapore in 2002, Malaysia in 2005, Philippines in 2006, and Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia in 2007.

The Japanese government began negotiations for EPAs with South Korea in 2003, ASEAN as a whole in 2005, and Vietnam, India and Australia in 2007. It is currently in the preliminary study or exploratory stages of talks with China and New Zealand, and at the same time exploring a trilateral Japan-China-South Korea deal as a model for the targeted East Asia regional agreement, the main objective of which in pursuing these EPA is to ensure that Japanese transnational corporations will be able to compete and gain free access to the markets, labor and natural resources of the region.

Among them, the relation with ASEAN is of great importance. A FTA agreement between the ASEAN and Japan is expected to be inked this May. The FTA agreement will mostly cover goods while most services and investment are already covered by each member of ASEAN and Japan. In addition, if approved, tariffs on 90 per cent of goods imported by Japan from ASEAN will be reduced to zero while more than 70 items of Thai goods worth about US$53 million could be exported to that country.

Poisonings from tainted Chinese ‘gyoza’

2008-02-09T03:42:26-08:00

The food-poisoning scare centered on frozen "gyoza" meat and vegetable dumplings from China spread nationwide last Thursday as the number of reported victims rose to at least 451 in 35 prefectures. It has not been confirmed, however, if the claims of illness, including dizziness and nausea, filed with public health centers or other institutions nationwide by more than 400 people who said they have eaten the products, are linked to the pesticide earlier detected in one of the products.

The health ministry hastily compiled a nationwide database on food poisoning cases allegedly related to the dumplings after it was reported Wednesday that 10 people in two prefectures who ate them had been sickened by pesticide found inside. Food companies are withdrawing products supplied by the Chinese company, Tianyang Food, based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, that reportedly made the suspect dumplings. The Chinese government meanwhile said preliminary tests carried out on samples of frozen dumplings made by Tianyang Food have shown no traces of pesticide. Chinese authorities also said they have ordered the company to halt production and exports, and to recall all of its products, both domestically and overseas.

Food-poisoning reports connected with the dumplings have been flooding into local health centers across the country after the initial cases were reported Wednesday. Later that day, seven other people, in Akita, Saitama, Kanagawa and Kumamoto prefectures, also reported falling ill after consuming the gyoza. Fresh reports involving hundreds of more people came in Thursday from across Japan, including the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, Fukushima, Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Ishikawa, Aichi, Kochi, Osaka, Hyogo, Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Okinawa.

Agriculture 2.0

2006-12-25T01:07:03-08:00

Japan is now in a dilemma. In the talks of free trade liberalization, the Doha Development Agenda, Japan is now mandated to conduct trade liberalization in its agricultural sectors and tariff elimination of its agricultural products in order to reach an agreement for concluding negotiations among the 149 member countries. At the regional and bilateral measures, in addition, Japan is now required to open its agricultural market for the sake of developing countries in the region because trade liberalization in agriculture is crucial for the poor who heavily depends their livelihood on agriculture. Nevertheless, Japan's farmers and its agricultural market have been highly protected in order to protect the farmers’ livelihood, and sustain the nation’s economy and culture.

Japan is well known for its urban decadence and bustling streets -- many naturally envision a large city like Tokyo when thinking of Japan. Not to be overlooked however, are the rural farm lands where agriculture forms an important part of the economy. Amidst a mountainous terrain, farmers have grown rice for centuries on terraced fields that boast some of the highest productivity rates per unit of arable land. The nation is self-sufficient in rice production, which is an amazing feat considering its low percentage of farmable land, and its dependence on other countries for most resources. Japan’s culture is closely tied to agriculture. Traditional Japanese foods and drinks, such as Japanese sake, are largely rice-based, and the festivals celebrated throughout the country in the hot summer months are tied to temples and the year’s harvest.

Convincing of what farmers in the countryside have shaped our economic history and agriculture always exists at the center of Japan’s culture, we predict that, in the next year, 2007, Agriculture 2.0 will appear at the following three levels, though. First, it will appear at the multilateral level, Doha Development Agenda in World Trade Organization. All the WTO member countries will be prepared for the fully-fledged negotiations to resume towards a creation of a freer and fairer multilateral trading system. Second, it will appear at the regional level, Free Trade Agreements in East Asia. The proliferation of regional and bilateral measures in East Asia will boost up the world economies and have a huge contribution to successful development of the multilateral trading system. Finally, it will appear at the national level, General Elections in Japan. Based on the two-party system, Liberal Democratic Party and Democratic Party of Japan will compete their manifesto of agricultural policy reform as a crucial factor influencing the campaign in coming July.

Changing the landscape of international trades and regional development, the syndication and messaging capabilities of Agriculture 2.0 will build on the existing our culture by making it for Japan to have never ever an increasing important role in not only the multilateral negotiation in the WTO but also regional and bilateral measures in East Asia. With increasing global and regional integration, indeed, Japan must change to remain the same. Prior to 2007, more importantly, becoming the bridge between East Asia and Japan, we will serve as a social platform in the next generation for our future prosperity, and, promoting agriculture 2.0 all over the world, Japan will be more aggressive and competitive in its agricultural markets.