Leferink, who last week attended the World Dairy Summit in Yokohama, says after discussions with some of his Japanese counterparts, he doubts the much-heralded Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) can be concluded by the end of this year.
Japanese farmers oppose the TPP, fearing the accord will wipe them out by triggering an influx of cheaper imports. Some Japanese media reports suggest the Government will be seeking to exempt agriculture from the pact.
Japan Dairy Association (J-milk) president Shigetaro Asano told the Summit “it’s too early for a complete free trade deal”.
Asano, who is also president of food giant Meiji Holdings, noted that domestic milk supply is dwindling. But he warned that a dwindling local milk supply doesn’t mean Japanese farmers should easily agree to trade liberalisation. He urged Japanese dairy farmers to keep abreast of TPP negotiations.
Leferink points out the average age of Japanese dairy farmers is 68. Most of these wealthy farmers don’t want an open market to erode their wealth, he says.
“They strongly feel that opening up their borders suddenly is a dangerous thing to do. I can understand where they are coming from,” he told Rural News. “They are getting a huge milk price right now because of short supply and they don’t want to lose that under free trade.”
Leferink believes there’s no need to rush into TPP. “It’s better to negotiate a good agreement, even if it means it takes a little longer.”
The 12 countries in the TPP negotiations – US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Singapore – are hoping to conclude a trade deal by next month.
Japanese negotiators are facing pressure to make some concessions, particularly on farm products. However, the agriculture sector is applying pressure on the Government to protect them.
Last month Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe again pledged to fight for Japan’s trading interests The Government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have been seeking to protect the country’s agriculture industry by making imports of five key farm product categories – rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products and sugar – exceptions to the TPP’s basic rule of tariff elimination. The five ‘sacred’ categories contain 586 farm products.
Japan has one of the most protected dairy sectors in the world, with high tariffs on imports. In 2012 New Zealand exported US$536m worth of dairy products to Japan, but faced substantial tariffs. High tariffs are also levied on meat and fruit and vegetable products from New Zealand.
• Sudesh Kissun attended the 2013 World Dairy Summit in Yokohama, Japan with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
