It was late in Tokyo when European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council president Donald Tusk and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe signed the trade agreement lowering tariffs on a range of products this Thursday in Brussels. Yet Japanese agriculture minister Yuji Yamamoto held a night-time press conference to reassure Japanese farmers that the deals would not pose a threat to them.

Last-ditch agriculture talks

The agricultural chapter of the deal was one of the toughest to negotiate. According to a source present at his press briefing, minister Yamamoto said he came to an agreement with European commissioner for agriculture Phil Hogan just five minutes before the EU official left Japan after marathon talks last weekend.

Minister Yamamoto also highlighted that aside from soft cheeses, the concessions given to Europe were narrower than those offered under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Although the election of US president Donald Trump signalled the end of TPP, that agreement was seen as a bigger threat to Japanese farmers because it encompassed a number of heavyweight agricultural exporters, including the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

TPP red line

Ahead of the signature of the EU free trade agreement, a representative for the powerful Japanese farming organisation JA Zenchu had told the Irish Farmers Journal that the level of trade liberalisation agreed on TPP was the maximum acceptable to its members. The organisation reinforced this red line until the last minute, holding a rally in Tokyo last week.

A recent visit by the Irish Farmers Journal to Japan seemed to indicate that despite a dwindling population, the country's affluent 125m inhabitants could sustain domestic and imported food markets side by side. Japan already imports 60% of the calories it consumes and its ageing farmers are struggling to keep up with demand.

Initial reactions to the announcement of the EU trade deal in Japanese media reportedly featured consumers welcoming the news that they would soon have access to cheaper cheese and wine.

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