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Report
Urges Greater Use of Domestic Lumber to Aid
Environmental Conservation Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Yoshiyuki
Kamei presented and secured approval for
the FY 2003 Annual Report on Trends of Forest and Forestry at a
meeting of the Cabinet on April 20.
The report draws attention to the problem
that although the acreage of
forest in Per capita consumption of lumber in Approximately 30% of the artificial forest
planted since
the Second World War has now reached the
stage of growth at which it can be cut
over, and the potential supply of domestically
grown lumber has increased. The
use of lumber resources is a major issue
in forestry policy. The report points out that the use
of domestically grown lumber has the advantages
of alleviating health problems
such as "sick house syndrome" and
helping to secure the
multi-functionality of forests. It adds that
the use of domestically grown
lumber as a building material has a new significance
today, in that it places
little burden on the environment and helps
to create pleasant and soothing
dwelling spaces. Among other matters, the report also
covers trends in lumber exports, the creation
of an action plan with a view to
expanding the use of lumber in public works,
collaboration with volunteer
bodies in the nurturing of forests, and the
establishment of a forest
certification system. MAFF to Step Up Promotion of GAP as Method
of Hygiene Control for
Agricultural Products The Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is to step
up its efforts to encourage GAP (good
agricultural practice), which has begun to
attract attention as a means of
controlling hygiene for agricultural products.
The aim is to establish a
production system that minimizes food-related
accidents through the adoption of
rigorous methods of hygiene control in agricultural
production. In addition to
drawing up control guidelines for rice and
fruit, MAFF will organize seminars,
etc. and encourage farmers to use GAP. It
will also consider the possibility of
establishing a third-party certification
system for farmers implementing GAP. Last summer, the Codex Alimentarius
Commission, which is responsible for the
creation of international food standards,
officially decided hygiene control standards
for fruit and vegetables. In MAFF has allocated a budget of 39
million yen to measures for the promotion
of GAP as a new project this fiscal
year. MAFF will meet half the cost of organizing
seminars and establishing
councils with a view to promoting GAP incurred
by JA cooperatives and municipal
governments in production areas. MAFF will
also draw up control guidelines for
fruit, rice, wheat and barley. The intention
is that these guidelines will be
suited to production and climatic conditions
in Japan.
[Return] Concentration
of Farmland in Hands of "Core"
Farmers Set to Fall Short of Target by
50% It seems likely that the pace at
which agricultural land is concentrated in
the hands of "approved"
and other "core" farmers will be
only half the target rate set by the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
(MAFF). MAFF had set a target
of bringing a further 300,000 hectares of
land under cultivation by core
farmers between fiscal 1999 through fiscal
2003, by means of the sale and
rental of land and production on commission,
but to date has secured only an
estimated 150,000 hectares. For this reason,
MAFF is now considering a new
approach centering on a system for the concentration
of cropland currently lying idle in the
hands of core farmers. On the assumption of a target food
self-sufficiency ratio of 45% on a calorie
basis, MAFF's target was to extend
the area of agricultural land farmed by core
farmers by some 720,000 hectares
from 2.1 million hectares at the end of fiscal
1999 to 2.82 million hectares at
the end of fiscal 2010. The ultimate objective
was to have 60% of Japan's
agricultural land cultivated by core farmers. MAFF had also set an interim target
for the end of fiscal 2003 of 2.4 million
hectares, the aggregate of the
targets set by municipal governments. However,
estimates based on prefectural
government reports submitted at the end of
the fiscal year suggest that only
2.25 million hectares had been achieved. MAFF suggests a number of possible
reasons for the slow progress, for example
(i) that the slump in the price of
agricultural products has sapped the will
of core farmers to expand the scale
of their farming concerns, (ii) that there
is still a strong tendency to regard
land as an asset to be held, or (iii) that
increasing mechanization is allowing
aged farmers and farmers with a side job
to continue growing rice. Concentrating agricultural land in
the hands of core farmers and expanding the
scale of farming operations is one
of the pillars of the structural reform of
agriculture. For this reason, MAFF
plans to put forward additional measures
to promote the concentration of
agricultural land under the new Basic Plan
for Food, Agriculture and Rural
Areas, setting out the basic objectives of
agricultural policy that is to be
approved by the Cabinet in March 2005. The
Need for an Industrial Revolution Starting
in the Countryside: Launch of a New
National Council for the Regeneration of
Agriculture A "National Council for the
Revitalization of Japan Starting with Agriculture,
Forestry and
Fisheries", whose mission is to revitalize
regional economies through the
regeneration of agriculture, will be launched
on June 1. The Council is to be
chaired by former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa.
Taking as its theme "an
industrial revolution starting in the countryside",
the Council will put
forward policy proposals with a view to developing
a wide range of agricultural
businesses linking JA cooperatives, farmers,
local government bodies, private
business enterprises, and consumers and opening
up of new horizons for
agriculture. The establishment of the Council was
proposed by Taku Kajiwara, President of the
National Governors' Association
(NGA), Professor Eisuke Sakakibara of Keio
University, and Satoshi Iue,
Chairman of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. The
Council is to be launched at an
establishment meeting to be held at Keio
University's Mita Campus. The Council will focus on the
revitalization of agriculture and the development
of new businesses based on
agriculture and food. With a view to the
development of specific business
models, ten working groups are to be established,
including (i) an
"Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries
Investment Fund" group,
which will support investment in the establishment
of farming business
enterprises, (ii) an "Agricultural Franchise
System" group, which
will supply information on which agricultural
products are in greatest demand,
etc. to farmers and JA cooperatives around
Japan and promote the creation of
nationwide distribution and sales networks,
(iii) an "Export
Projects" group, which will promote
the development of overseas markets,
(iv) a "Food Culture Project" group,
which will encourage the
development of new foodstuffs and ways of
preparing food, the commercial
development of food-related leisure travel,
and (v) a "Producer's
Insurance" group, which will develop
insurance products to cover drastic
changes in market conditions, recovery of
export debt, etc. There are plans to establish further
working groups, and the Council will be inviting
proposals and recruiting
participants from the general public. The
Council is to make its first policy
proposals as early as this autumn. To help
in collecting ideas from as wide a
range of sources as possible, general meetings
will be open to the public, and
reports on the activities of the working
groups will be posted on the Council's
website. Agriculture
Minister Meets European Officials to Discuss
WTO Agriculture Negotiations On April 30, Japan's Minister of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Yoshiyuki
Kamei, currently on a tour of
Europe, met Norwegian Minister of Agriculture
Lars Sponheim for talks on the
WTO (World Trade Organization) agriculture
negotiations. The ministers
confirmed their countries' intention of working
together as members of a group
of like-minded countries in the negotiations
prior to the establishment of a framework
for liberalization at the end of July. Japan
and Norway are both members of the
G10 (Group 10) group of net importers of
food. The members of G10 all face the
problem that the setting of tariff ceilings
and the compulsory expansion of
low-tariff quotas will lead directly to a
rise in imports of sensitive items
and are pressing for the establishment of
trade rules acceptable to net
importers. On May 3, Mr. Kamei met Tim Groser,
New Zealand's Ambassador to the WTO and chair
of the Agricultural Negotiating
Committee, for talks, in Geneva. Mr. Kamei
stressed that the framework for the
liberalization of agriculture to be established
at the end of July should
reflect non-trade concerns, and reiterated
Japan's position on border measures,
including its opposition to the setting of
tariff ceilings and the compulsory
expansion of low-tariff quotas. He also proposed
that small groups of
countries, each including net importers of
food, should be established, under
Mr. Groser's leadership, to facilitate intensive
discussion with a view to
achieving agreement on the framework. While
stressing that he must remain
impartial in his capacity as chair of the
Agricultural Negotiating Committee,
Mr. Groser agreed that it was important for
delegates to negotiate among themselves
and that small plurilateral sessions could
facilitate the negotiation process. In the evening of
the same day, Mr. Kamei met EU Commissioner
for Agriculture, Rural Development
and Fisheries Franz Fischler for talks at
which it was confirmed that Japan and
the EU would work for progress in the negotiation
process, with a view to the
agreement of a framework at the end of July,
"cooperating in any areas in
which it is possible to cooperate".
Mr. Kamei proposed that Japan and the
EU should cooperate on the issue of domestic
support measures. He told Mr.
Fischler that Japan intended to "take
a cooperative stance" and work
with the EU against the setting of ceilings
on subsidies applied to individualproducts.
Mr. Fischler's response was positive. On May 4, Mr. Kamei met Dr. Joseph
Deiss, Minister of Economic Affairs and President
of the Swiss Confederation
for talks on the WTO agricultural negotiations,
at which they agreed that
tariff reductions should take account of
sensitive items. The ministers confirmed
that their countries would continue to work
together as members of the G10
group, on the basis of their common position
as net importers of food. During
the meeting, Mr. Kamei told Dr. Deiss that
if the setting of tariff ceilings
and the compulsory expansion of low-tariff
quotas were approved, it could
"deal a devastating blow to domestic
agriculture" and stressed
Japan's view that this approach "needs
to be rectified". Dr. Deiss also
expressed the view that the method of tariff
reduction should take account of
sensitive items and that the approach involving
the setting of tariff ceilings,
etc. was unacceptable. Japan
& US Aim to Agree Conditions for Lifting
of Beef Import Ban by Summer On April 24, Japanese and United
States government officials of director-general
of bureau level met to discuss
Japan's ban on imports of beef produced in
the United States, imposed following
the discovery of an outbreak of BSE (bovine
spongiform encephalopathy) in that
country. It was agreed that Japan and the
United States would strive to reach
agreement on conditions for the lifting of
the ban by the summer. It was also
decided to establish a joint working subcommittee
made up of experts and
officials with direct responsibility for
BSE countermeasures, to discuss procedures
for BSE testing and other safety measures.
The subcommittee is to hold its
first meeting by mid-May. At what was the first meeting on the
beef issue in three months, the Japanese
side asserted that the lifting of the
import ban was conditional on ensuring the
safety of food and peace of mind for
the people of Japan. They also indicated
that the Japanese government believed
it was important not to undermine consumer
trust and that the same safety
measures should apply to domestic and imported
beef. Although pressing for discussion by
experts to begin, the US side did not put
forward any new proposals on the
conditions for the lifting of the import
ban. For this reason, the discussion
was largely concerned with how talks should
be pursued. The Japanese side
proposed the establishment of a working subcommittee
of experts and the US side
agreed. The two sides will also aim to
decide conditions for the lifting of the
US ban on imports of beef produced in
Japan by the summer. The United States has
prohibited imports of Japanese beef
since the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease
in Japan in 2000. Japan
Submits Comments on Proposed Revisions of
BSE Standards to OIE On May 12, the Japanese government
presented to the OIE (Office International
des Epizooties/World Organization
for Animal Health) a document summarizing
its views on the proposed revisions
of the international standards on BSE (bovine
spongiform encephalopathy)
countermeasures put forward by that organization.
The document calls on the OIE
to delete the provision stating that live
cattle and beef "can be safely
traded" on the grounds that there is
no new scientific evidence to
guarantee their safety. It also states Japan's
opposition to the relaxation of
the age after which "specified risk
materials" (SRM: brain, spinal
cord, etc.) must be removed, and proposed
that the target age should be 6
months in all cases. The statement argues against the OIE
proposal that the range of SRM should be
extended to include all parts of the
intestine, and not only the distal portion
of the ileum, on the grounds that
tests have not detected abnormal prion proteins
[thought to be responsible for
BSE] in parts of the intestine other than
the distal ileum. It also urged that
portions of the intestine other than the
distal ileum be excluded from the
scope of SRM as they are eaten in Japan. The OIE standards on BSE
countermeasures are adopted "as is"
by the WTO (World Trade
Organization) as its own international standards.
In mid-April this year, the
OIE put forward proposed revisions to the
standards, including (i) an extension
of the scope of SRM from "the section
of the small intestine close to the
cecum (the distal portion of the ileum)"
to "the entire
intestine" and (ii) a new provision
which states that live cattle, beef,
etc. from countries which satisfy the standards
for BSE testing set by the OIE
according to the level of infection risk
"can be safely traded". 1 Egg
Every 10 Days; 1 Cup of Milk Every 5 Days:
"Typical Menu" if Food
Imports Were Cut Off "If food imports were cut off
completely, we might have one egg every ten
days, and a cup of milk every five
days." The Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recently
published a "model menu" based
on the assumption of such an
emergency. Because keeping livestock, which
consumes large quantities of feed,
is an inefficient means of producing the
calories necessary to sustain life,
MAFF says animal products would hardly ever
appear on the menu. The aim is to
show how far Japan relies on imports for
its daily diet and to draw attention
to the need to increase food self-sufficiency. The assumption is that the 2,000
kcal that the average adult needs each day
for a normal range of activities are
to be drawn entirely from domestically produced
food. Typically, the staple
food at the two main meals of the day, breakfast
and dinner, would be a single
bowl of rice. This would be accompanied by
1 portion of potato, morning and
evening, together with 1 portion of nukazuke
[vegetables pickled in rice-bran paste] at
breakfast and 1 piece of grilled
fish at dinner. Meat would only be on the
menu once every 10 days. Lunch would consist of 2 roast sweet
potatoes and 1/4 of an apple only. The supply
of natto [fermented soybeans], a standard breakfast
food, would be
limited to 1 portion every 3 days. That of
udon
[wheat noodles], most of the wheat for which
is imported, would be reduced to 1
bowl every 3 days. According to MAFF, raising Japan's
food self-sufficiency ratio from 40% to 100%
would mean switching to more
calorie-efficient crops and large tracts
of farmland would have to be converted
to the cultivation of potatoes and rice. MPHPT
Estimates: Japan Has World's Lowest Birthrate According to the latest Population Estimates, released by the
Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs,
Posts and Telecommunications
(MPHPT) on May 4, a day before "Children's
Day", the number of
children (under the age of 15) is down for
the 23rd year in
succession, having fallen by 200,000 since
2003, to 17.81 million. The ratio of
children to the total population has fallen
by 0.2 points to 13.9%, a new low.
MPHPT says this is one of the lowest ratios
in the world. From the end of the Second World War
to the 1970s, a period that included two
"baby booms", the number of
children rose, but from the 1980s, it has
declined virtually without a pause.
Even allowing for variation in the timing
of surveys, the ratio of children to
the total population has also fallen to one
of the lowest in the world, below
that of Italy (14.3%), among other countries. By prefecture, the highest ratio of
children to total population as of October
1, 2003 was that recorded in Okinawa
(19.0%), while the lowest was that in Tokyo
(12.0%). Japanese
Scientists Breed Parthenogenetic Mouse: First
Mammal Without a Father A group of scientists at Tokyo
University of Agriculture's Faculty of Applied
Bioscience, led by Professor
Tomohiro Kono, have successfully bred a mouse
using only a mouse ovum and
oocytes, cells from which ova develop. Until
now, it was thought impossible to
breed mammals by "artificial parthenogenesis",
a reproductive
technique that does not involve a male parent.
If the technique proves
practical, it may be possible to breed livestock
using only females with the
desired characteristics. The results of the
research are to be published in the
British scientific periodical Nature. Named "Kaguya", the
world's first parthenogenetic mouse was born
in February last year and was bred
from a normal ovum with female genome (genetic
information) and a number of
oocytes, genetically manipulated to have
characteristics close to those of
sperm. The offspring of the process are all
females. Kaguya has developed
normally and given birth to her own offspring
after mating with a male mouse.
[Return] National
Institute of Animal Health Opens New BSE
Research Facility On April 27, the National
Agriculture and Bio-oriented Research Organization's
National Institute of
Animal Health (NIAH; based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki
Prefecture) held a ceremony to
celebrate the completion of construction
of Japan's first large-scale facility
dedicated to research on BSE (bovine spongiform
encephalopathy). The facility
will be equipped for tests in which cattle
are artificially infected with BSE,
which will help to elucidate the mechanism
of infection and give fresh momentum
to the development of techniques for early
diagnosis and the analysis of
the abnormal prion proteins that are the
cause of infection. The new facility is equipped with a
full range of safety systems to allow research
on BSE, avian influenza and
other highly dangerous pathogens. To prevent
the leakage of abnormal prions, excreta
and tissue from laboratory animals are sterilized
using high-temperature,
high-pressure steam equipment. MAFF Tightens Monitoring of Food Labeling Faced with an unending stream of
cases of misleading and fraudulent food labeling,
the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has decided
to tighten up its monitoring
arrangements. The 2,000 food labeling standards
officers attached to regional
agriculture administration offices and district
agriculture offices will
continue to patrol retail stores and DNA
testing, which has proved effective as
a means of identifying fraudulent labeling
will be carried out. For day-to-day
monitoring purposes, MAFF will also maintain
its "food labeling
watcher" system, under which members
of the public monitor food labeling,
aiming to catch fraudulent labeling in "an
encircling net". Last fiscal year, MAFF doubled the
budget it allocates to ensuring proper food
labeling. This year it has secured
a similar budget allowance of 375 million
yen. The number of infringements of
the JAS Law, which sets out rules on food
labeling, shows no sign of falling.
The labeling of fruit and other fresh foods
is required to indicate country of
origin. However, a MAFF survey carried out
in the first half of fiscal 2003
revealed that labeling used in approximately
40% of the 17,000 retail stores
surveyed was inadequate. Approximately 7%
of the stores surveyed were also
infringing regulations by selling organic
foods that did not display the
"Organic JAS" mark. Rice is another food in relation to
which many cases of fraudulent labeling have
recently been exposed. DNA testing
of 600 rice products revealed that 8% contained
rice of varieties other than
that stated on the label. MAFF says that
"Ensuring proper labeling is a pressing
issue," and plans to step up its monitoring
activities. The measures will combine education
of food processing and distribution companies
with monitoring activities.
Monitoring will involve collaboration with
prefectural governments in the
patrolling of retail stores, etc. MAFF will recruit 500 "food
labeling watchers" from the general
public. These watchers will monitor
the indication of country of origin on fresh
and (raw materials used in)
processed foods, and check that organic foods
and polished rice are correctly
labeled. The rules on the labeling of tokubetsu
saibai nosanbutsu ["special cultivation agricultural
products"],
grown using reduced quantities of pesticides,
herbicides and chemical
fertilizers, were revised in April and the
watchers will also check their
labeling. DNA testing to police the indication
of variety and country of origin will also
be conducted on a random basis. MAFF
says that in serious cases, it will continue
to take tough measures, such as
publishing the names of businesses that infringe
the rules.
International
Rice Supply Under Increasing Pressure World stocks of rice are falling
rapidly. The year-end stock of rice had been
rising steadily since the 1960s,
but from 2000 onwards has dropped like a
stone. One could take the optimistic
view that everything is fine since stocks
are still equivalent to 20% of annual
consumption. However, this rapid decline
is clearly a divergence from the past
trend. The international supply of rice is
under increasing pressure and international
market prices are rising. In every
rice-producing country, there are moves towards
greater production. Will this
be sufficient to halt the downward curve
of the inventory ratio? This year, a
United Nations International Year of Rice,
the worldwide trend of rice
production will be the focus of particular
attention. Although world rice production in
2003/2004 is expected to be approximately
390 million tons (on a milled basis;
USDA data), consumption is forecast at 412
million tons. This year, there will
be a shortfall of more than 20 million tons,
which will mean tapping into
stocks. The world still has rice stocks of
85 million tons, but if those stocks
continue to fall at the current pace, they
will run out in just over four
years' time. According to economic theory, a rise
in the price of rice should eventually stimulate
production and at the same
time lead to a fall in demand, and so the
rice inventory ratio should settle to
an appropriate level. At the beginning of April, the FAO
(Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations) said it expects rice
production to "head towards recovery"
this year. Production is
expected to rise in the world's two largest
rice-growing countries, China and
India. Sensing an impending crisis, the central
government of China, where rice stocks halved
in 2000/2001, is emphasizing
production of maize, soybeans and other crops
besides rice. According to the US
Department of Agriculture, the area of land
under rice in the United States is
set to increase by 8% this year. Rice exporters
such as Thailand and Vietnam
are also said to be keen to step up production. But will the recovery in rice
production go to plan? The rice inventory
ratio has fallen since 2000 because
the fall in market price has led major rice-growing
countries to plant less
rice, because population growth has brought
a rise in consumption, and because
droughts and other abnormal weather have
made crop quantity unstable. It is an
unfortunate fact that an increase in the
cultivated area does not lead directly
to an increase in the output of agricultural
products. The world should take
the uncertainty of the future supply of rice
more seriously. Studies preparatory to the
establishment of an East Asian Emergency
Rice Reserve System, in which Japan
plays a central role and which involves the
ASEAN (Association of South East
Asian Nations), China and Korea, will get
under way this year. A system is
being considered whereby, in the event of
a shortage, the participating
countries would make available a portion
of the rice stocks they hold by way of
emergency aid. Regional cooperation initiatives
of this kind are certainly
needed, but it is vital that individual countries
keep up their rice-growing
capacity. (from an editorial in the April 20, 2004
issue of
the Nihon Nogyo Shimbun) |