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MAFF to Adopt Tender System for Government-Marketed
Rice Purchasing From rice grown in 2004 onwards, the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
(MAFF)
is to adopt a tender system for the
purchasing
of rice for use as government-marketed
rice.
The system will constitute an application
of the policy of encouraging farmers
to produce
"rice that will sell" to
government
rice. MAFF will set scheduled purchase prices (undisclosed),
taking account of the market price
of each
brand of rice, which is determined
by a combination
of production area and variety, and
will
purchase rice from suppliers whose
offers
fall below this price, starting with
the
lowest-priced. JA cooperatives in rice-growing
areas and other suppliers will be invited
to submit bids. The purchasing period for rice produced in
2004 will, in principle, be from January
to June 2005. The tender system will
apply
to popular brands listed at the National
Rice Trade and Although, as an interim measure, "other
brands" not listed at the Center
will
initially be accepted for tender, the
adoption
of the system is basically a harsh
measure
in that it means that less popular
brands
with low recognition will not be purchased.
Until now, the purchasing of rice to
be used
as government-marketed rice has tended
to
have the character of a relief measure,
with
the government buying up less popular
brands
of rice by way of compensation for
requiring
farmers to make production adjustments. Food Self-Sufficiency Stays at 40% for a
Sixth Year On August 6, the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced
that
Japan's food self-sufficiency ratio
in FY
2003 was 40% on a caloric supply (calorie)
basis, remaining at that level for
a sixth
year in succession. In FY 2003, per capita daily caloric consumption
in The lack of growth in food self-sufficiency
is largely due to the fall in consumption
of rice over the years, but a decline
in
the domestic supply of roughage for
livestock
has also played a role. The feed self-sufficiency
ratio fell by 1 point in FY 2003 to
24%,
equaling the previous all-time low
recorded
in FY 1999. The government has set
itself
a target of raising the feed self-sufficiency
ratio to 35% by 2010 but, as the decline
continues, policy intervention will
be required. The cereal self-sufficiency ratio,
including cereals grown for both human and livestock
consumption, also fell from 28% in
FY 2002
to 27% in FY 2003, the lowest level
on record.
According to estimates made in 2001,
[Return] Interim Summary of Discussions on New Basic
Plan: Proposal That Direct Payments
be Limited
to "Core" Farmers On August 10, the Planning Committee of the
Council on Food, Agriculture and Rural
Area
Policies presented to the Council an
interim
report summarizing of the issues covered
in the discussion of a New Basic Plan
for
Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas.
The Planning
Committee proposes that the scope of the farming business
stabilization measures (a Japanese-style
system of direct payments) that MAFF
aims
to introduce in FY 2007 be limited
to "core"
farming entities. It also proposes
that "core"
farming entities be defined as "approved
farmers" and community-operated
farming
organizations that are working to centralize
accounts. However, if On the basis of this interim report, MAFF
will consider concrete policy measures
and
start presenting proposals in the autumn.
The Planning Committee will also debate
issues
such as raising the food self-sufficiency
ratio, summarize the issues discussed
by
the end of the year and present its
report
to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries in March 2005. A New
Basic
Plan taking into account the content
of the
report is to be decided by the Cabinet
the
same month. The interim report proposes a two-tier
system with regard to the farming business
stabilization
measures that will form a key element
of
the New Basic Plan. The measures will combine (1) fixed-amount subsidies
in respect of wheat and barley, soybeans
or
other crops whose market price falls
below
production cost due to competition
from imports,
and (2) supplementation of agricultural
revenue
or income, up to a fixed percentage,
regardless
of the crop produced, if these fall.
The
fixed-amount subsidies will consist of two elements: subsidies reflecting
the area of land under the crop in
question
over a given period and subsidies reflecting
the production quantity and quality
each
year. The interim report proposes that the recipients
of these payments be "approved
farmers"
and community-operated farming organizations
that are planning to centralize accounts
and become incorporated. The interim report proposes a number of agricultural
environment and resource conservation
measures,
which also concern non-"core"
farmers,
including (1) setting out the minimum
that
farmers will required to do to conserve
agricultural
land and water supplies and supporting
any
initiatives that go beyond these minimum
requirements, (2) supporting model
initiatives
in regions where there is a particular
need
for environmental conservation, such
as the
Lake Biwa area. The interim report also proposes the setting
of minimum requirements for environmental
protection in areas such as the use
of fertilizers
and agricultural chemicals. It suggests
that
support under farming business stabilization
measures, etc. should be conditional
on meeting
these requirements. As regards the agricultural land system,
the interim report does no more than
list
issues to be reviewed, such as securing
good
farmland and the efficient use of farmland.
It also states the arguments for and against allowing
ordinary limited liability companies to acquire farmland. Mr. Kamei also said that MAFF would take
full account of the content of the
interim
report in the formulation of its budget
request
for FY 2005 and in forthcoming systemic
reforms. MAFF Senior Personnel Changes Effective August
9, 2004 Major senior personnel changes at the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
(MAFF),
effective August 9, 2004:
IC tags are made up of an integrated circuit
chip and an antenna. Product information
is recorded on the IC chip and can
be read
from radio signals emitted via the
antenna.
IC tags can store a greater amount
of information
than existing barcode systems and allow
faster
data processing. Supermarket chains and other distribution
companies can use IC tags for product
inventory
control, to record details of production
history such as the country of origin
of
agricultural products, and to instantly
calculate
the amount due for all of a customer's
purchases
at the checkout. However, if data input and reading systems
differ, they may not be compatible
with or
applicable to international transactions
such as the import or export of goods.
Japan-US BSE Working Committee Submits Interim
Report The Japan-US Working Committee, set up to
discuss BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy)
countermeasures in a scientific manner,
presented
an interim report on July 22. In this
report,
both sides recognize the limitations
of blanket
testing and the The report confirms a shared position on
seven issues, including BSE testing
and the
method of removal of SRM. Both sides
recognize
the limitations of current BSE testing
techniques,
saying that it was "possible in theory but difficult in
practice" for the techniques to detect the abnormal prions that cause BSE when used on young cattle. The two sides also agree that it is important
to remove SRM to protect human health.
However,
they differ over the extent of BSE
infection
in the The The two key issues for the future are (1)
the age (months) below which cattle
will
be exempted from testing if the Food
Safety
Commission agrees to a review of the
blanket
testing policy, and (2) the extent
to which
US government certification will constitute
a guarantee of the age of cattle and
the
removal of SRM. An agreement on conditions for the lifting
of the ban on imports of beef from
the United
States was to have been reached this
summer,
but, at a press conference following
the
Cabinet meeting on August 10, Minister
of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Yoshiyuki
Kamei told reporters that this was
now very
unlikely, and that he believed an agreement
might not be reached until autumn or
even
later, as the Food Safety Commission,
which
is responsible for verifying domestic
BSE
countermeasures has yet to reach its
decision. Mr. Kamei also said that, as a condition
for lifting the import ban,
WTO General Council Agrees Negotiating Framework;
Discussion of "Tariff Ceilings"
Postponed On August 1, the meeting of the General Council
of the WTO (World Trade Organization)
closed
with the agreement of a framework for
the
new round of multilateral trade talks.
In
the field of agriculture, the agreement
puts
off the setting of tariff ceilings,
a measures
to which Japan is opposed, and provides
a
foothold for avoiding the compulsory
expansion
of low-tariff quotas. However, as the
emphasis
was on achieving an agreement, the
wording
is ambiguous in many places and future
negotiations
are likely to be difficult. The next
ministerial
meeting will take place in The new round of multilateral talks, which
began in November 2001, broke down
in September
last year, when the ministerial meeting
held
at Cancún in Mexico ended in a standoff between the
developed and developing countries,
and had
been at a standstill ever since but
the framework
agreed at the meeting of the general
council
has set the negotiations on track once
more. The general council agreed to adopt a "tiered
formula" for the reduction of
tariffs
on agricultural products, which will
have
the effect of reducing the highest
tariffs
by the greatest margins. Although sensitive
products, e.g. rice and dairy products
in
the case of The agreement was reached without it being
made clear whether expansion of the
low-tariff
quotas applied to sensitive products
would
be compulsory or not. The discussion
of the
"tariff ceiling" formula,
which
would bring high tariffs down to a
uniform
maximum level, was postponed, but the
Japanese
government believes that the chances
of its
being able to block the adoption of
this
approach are growing stronger. At a press conference on August 1, following
the agreement of the negotiating framework,
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries
Yoshiyuki Kamei expressed satisfaction
that
the final agreement took account of
the demands
of Mr. Kamei also stressed that, in preparation
for increased internationalization,
he would
be pressing ahead with domestic agricultural
reforms, telling reporters that the
review of the Basic Plan for Food, Agriculture
and Rural Areas in March 2005 would
provide
ample support to motivated and capable
farmers
and establish measures relating to
the agricultural
land system and environmental conservation. MAFF Survey Finds Generation Gap in Consumption
of Fruit On July 19, the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) released
the
provisional results of its latest consumer
survey on fruit. When asked how often
they
ate fruit, 31% of all respondents answered,
"Almost every day". By age
band,
most mature respondents aged 50 or
over answered,
"Almost every day", but the
most
common response among respondents in
their
20s, 30s and 40s said, "Once or
twice
a week" (30% of respondents in
these
age bands). However, 55% of respondents
in
their 20s and 51% of respondents in
their
30s said they planned to increase the
amount
of fruit they consumed, suggesting
that there
is potential for greater consumption
among
the younger generations. The survey also highlighted the issues for
the promotion of fruit consumption.
An overwhelming
75% of respondents said they were not
aware
of the industry-backed "200 grams
of
fruit a day" campaign. At the
same time,
56% of respondents cited "Health
benefits"
as a point that should be publicized
in order
to promote greater consumption of fruit,
suggesting that the health benefits
of fruit
could lead to greater consumption. Many respondents who rarely ate fruit said
they found cutting and peeling fruit
tiresome.
Some 25% of those who did not eat fruit
every
day said it was because it required
too much
preparation before eating. When asked
what
would encourage them to eat more fruit,
56%
of all respondents cited "Lower
prices",
over 20% more than respondents who
cited
"The availability of fresh fruit"
(35%) or "The availability of
information
on safety" (32%). A significant
number
of respondents cited "Inconsistency
of flavor" as one of the weak
points
of fruit as a commercial product. MAFF Working Towards Practical Development
of Methane Gas as a Fuel By the end of FY 2004, the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) will
begin
practical trials of systems for recycling
biomass resources such as livestock
excreta,
in the town of The trials will be conducted as part of the
government's "General Biomass
Strategy
for Yamada has many livestock farms and produces
as much as 110,000 tons of livestock
excreta
each year. To date, the agricultural
producers'
cooperative corporation Wagouen has worked with dairy farmers in the Yamada
area in pursuing a recycling-oriented
approach
to farming. The off-cuts and waste
from vegetables
grown by Wagouen are used to make compost or as litter or
bedding for cattle sheds, or used to
fertilize
Wagouen's fields. It was the existence of such initiatives
that prompted MAFF to choose Yamada
as the
location for the trials. The trials will take place over a three-year
period ending in 2006. Since According to the Taipei Office of the Interchange
Association, which promotes exchange
between
In view of this track record, JA Zenchu ( Meanwhile, farmers in MAFF to Take Lead in Promoting Traceability
of Agricultural Products The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries (MAFF) is to launch a full-scale
drive to promote the traceability of
the
production history (producer's name,
agricultural
chemicals used, distribution route,
etc.)
of agricultural products. Electronic
labels
known as "IC (integrated circuit)
tags"
are to be affixed to the packaging
of vegetables,
etc., making it easier for the purchaser
to obtain information such as country
of
origin and method of processing. MAFF
believes
government intervention is required
to improve
the reliability of the information
available
to consumers. The use of traceability systems is spreading
in the private sector. Producers of
meat
for human consumption commonly display
the
country of origin of beef and the date
and
time it was processed; supermarkets
display
the name of the farmer who grew vegetables
and the date they were harvested, in
store.
However, increasing the reliability
of the
information provided would take time
and
money, and it has been suggested that
the
burden is too great for the task to
be left
to the private sector alone. MAFF plans to promote the use of an IC tag-based
traceability system at major facilities
around
Besides fresh foods such as vegetables and
livestock products, the system will
cover
alcoholic beverages and fruit juices.
Farmers
will record information such as country
of
origin and agricultural chemicals used
on
IC tags, which they will affix to packaging
materials. Wholesale markets and retailers
handling the agricultural products
will use
the information on these IC tags to
sort
products and will then be able to enter
price
and other information. Consumers will be able to access information
such as the production area or use-by
date
using computers or cellular phones
with IC
tag reader functions. The system for reading IC tags is to be based
on TRON (The Real-time Operating System
Nucleus),
developed by Professor Ken Sakamura of the MAFF will work with Professor Sakamura and private business enterprises to develop
and introduce a system, and plans to
include
the development costs in its outline
budget
request for FY 2005. MAFF believes that attaching electronic information
to agricultural products will help
to reduce
production and distribution costs,
and will
make it possible to market products
that
offer consumers safety and peace of
mind.
The Need for the Review of the Basic Plan
for Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas
to
Take Account of Local Conditions An interim report summarizing the issues
covered in the discussion of the Basic
Plan
for Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas,
which
has a major influence on the direction
of
agricultural policy, has just been
published.
It proposes a clarification of the
definition
of "core" farming entities
and
the concentration of farming business
stabilization
measures on these "core"
entities.
It also proposes a review of the agricultural
land system and the establishment of
agricultural
environment and resource conservation
measures.
However, this interim report uses much
abstract
language and is generally difficult
to understand.
It should be rephrased without delay,
to
give a more concrete image of what
is intended.
Steps should also be taken to ensure
that
it makes proper allowance for local
conditions
and gives producers no grounds for
uncertainty. The interim report is intended to unify understanding
of the basic thinking behind agricultural
policy and clarify issues relating to specific policies
and has been drawn up by the Council
on Food,
Agriculture and Rural Area Policies.
The
Council will reconvene after September
16
and publish its final report by the
end of
March 2005. The interim report covers four main areas:
"core" farming entities,
farming
business stabilization measures, the
agricultural
land system, and agricultural environment
and resource conservation measures.
The discussion
of issues such as measures to increase
With regard to measures concerning "core"
farming entities, the interim report
proposes
that the definition of "core"
entities
be clarified and narrowed down, to
allow
measures to be implemented in a concentrated
manner. The definition currently includes
community-operated farming organizations
along with "approved farmers",
but the interim report proposes that
the
application of stabilization measures
to
community-operated farming organizations
be made conditional on these organizations
having plans to centralize accounts
and become
incorporated. As indicated by the response
of the JA Group, which maintains that
the
definition of "core" entities
should
not be based on uniform standards and
requirements
but should allow for a wide diversity
of
entities, to be specified and defined
for
each locality, it is important that
the definition
should reflect local conditions, so
as to
prevent confusion among farmers. With regard to farming business stabilization
measures, the interim report proposes
the
introduction of direct payments in
respect
of mixed crop production using paddy
and
dry fields. With regard to specialized
farming
businesses such as vegetable or livestock
farms, it proposes that the range of
entities
qualifying for payments should be clarified
and that each product should be considered
separately. The range of entities qualifying
for direct payments should also take
proper
account of conditions such as production
adjustments. The focal issue with regard to the agricultural
land system is the review of the system
for
the transfer of rights to agricultural
land.
The interim report states both viewpoints regarding the question of whether or not limited liability companies should be allowed
to acquire farmland — that "the
conditions should be relaxed"
and that
"limited liability companies should
not be permitted to acquire farmland." MAFF intends to discuss the matter without
delay and set out a clear position
by the
autumn. The debate on the agricultural land system
is therefore set to get properly under
way
in the autumn, but ordinary limited
liability
companies should not be allowed to
enter
the agriculture sector by acquiring
farmland.
To ensure that land does not lie idle,
the
agricultural land system should be
based
on the principle that farmland should
be
used as farmland. With regard to agricultural environment and
resource conservation measures, the
interim
report proposes that because the burden
of
conserving rural resources falls chiefly
on farmers, and the gap between benefits
and burdens is growing the government
should
provide any support that may be required.
However, what is intended by way of
support
is not clear. The Council says it hopes the interim report
will serve as a starting point for
a wide-ranging
national debate, but whether consumers
and
producers will fully understand so
abstract
a report is uncertain. Given that (from an editorial in the August 11, 2004 issue
of the Nihon Nogyo Shimbun) |