Vol. 22 No. 4 December 2004

NEWS
Domestic

Committee Accepts Food Self-Sufficiency Ratio of 45% May be Hard to Attain by 2010
Yoshinobu Shimamura Appointed Agriculture Minister in 2nd Cabinet Reshuffle
MAFF Says Number of Main-Business Fruit Farmers Likely to Fall by Half by 2015
MAFF to Purchase 90% of Government Rice from Listed Brands
MAFF Proposes Compulsory Leasing to Resolve Problem of Abandonment of Cultivation
Japan's 14th Case of BSE Discovered
Ruling Parties Approve Proposed Review of BSE Testing

International
Japan-US Summit Makes No Material Progress Towards Lifting of Beef Import Ban
China Bans Charcoal Exports; One-Third of All Charcoal Used in Japan
Thailand Prepared to be Flexible on Sensitive Items in Negotiation of FTA
Japan Lifts Ban on Imports of Poultry and Poultry Meat from Canada, Korea, Parts of United States
Topics
19.5% of Japanese are 65 or Over; One in Four Will be Senior Citizens by 2014
Environment, Science and Technology
Japan to Have 100 Days a Year Over 30?C by 2050, Southeast Asian Climate by 2100
Research Suggests Apple Polyphenols Reduce Organ Fat, Boost Muscle Strength

COMMENT
Organic Farming: the Need to Pay Greater Attention to Soil Preparation