How can non-trade concerns in agriculture be best

safeguarded?

Ｍｒ． Tetsuo USHIKUSAMAFF, Japan

1.Overview of Japanese Agriculture.

(1) The largest net food importing country with micro-sized scale farming

●Trade of Foods － Japan,

US, EU Year 2004,Unit:billion $

　 Export ImportNet

Import

Japan 18 415 397

US 639 599 - 40

EU 741 781 40

●Scale of Farming － Japan, US, EU Date: Japan-2003, US-2002, EU-2000

　TCL(10,000ha)

TCL perPerson (ha)

Farm scale per farmer(ha)

Japan 474 0.04 1.7

US 37,971 1.3 178.4

EU 12,679 0.3 18.7

*TCL; Total Cultivated Land

(2) Faced with major challenges

9.99.2 9.7

15.116.2

21.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

耕作放棄地

440

460

480

500

520

540

560

580cultivated land

耕作放棄地うち中山間地域耕地面積

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

年少者（総人口）

年少者（農家）

高齢者（総人口）

高齢者（農家）

％

1965 1970 1980 1990 2000

14 or less(total population)

65 or over(farm household)

14 or less(farm household)

65 or over (total population)

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Abandonedland

Cultivatedland

Abandoned land

of which hilly andMountains area

Cultivated land

2. Important Non Trade Concerns for Japan

・ Food Security・ Conservation of Land・ Fostering Water Resources・ Preservation of the National Environment・ Development of Favorable Landscapes・ Maintenance of Cultural Heritage・ Recreation/Relaxation・ Viability of Rural community

Non-trade concern

Multifunctionality of Agriculture

Food Security

Preservation of the National Environment

Other thingsViability of Rural community

Food safety,

Animal protection, etc

（１） Food Security

● Official opinion polls on trade of agricultural products (July,2000)

・ Perception about future food supply in Japan

Very muchSomewhatDon't knowNot muchNot at all

Feel unease

↓

Don’t feelunease

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

'61 '70 '80 '90 '00

FranceGermanyUKUSJ apan

●Continuous decline of Japan’sFood self-sufficiency rate.

(2) Flood Prevention and other function of Agriculture

function estimated value（ billions of yen ）

　 Flood prevention 3,498.8

　 River flow stabilization 1,463.3

　 Groundwater recharge 53.7

　 Soil erosion(wash-off) prevention 331.8

　 Landslide prevention 478.2

Breakdown of organic waste

12.3

Climate amelioration 8.7

Restoration of body and mind

2,375.8

Total agricultural Production

value (2002)

8,926.1

Source: Science Council of Japan Nov.2001 Report

Landscape of farmland

Landscape of farmland

Landscape of farmland

Landscape of farmland

Loss of permeability after abandoned

Landslide in abandoned paddy fields

（ Current system ）

Measures in principlefor all farmers

Commodity specific pricesupport and payment 　

ex :wheat, soybeans, sugar

Measure targeted on principal farmers

Non commodity specific support focused on the overall farm management

（ New system ）

・ Acceleration of the structural reform of agriculture ・ Response to the strengthening of WTO disciplines

3.We are moving to new scheme for domestic support

4. Japan pursue in this Round, the co-existence of various types of Agriculture to be assured, while fully committing to the Doha mandate and to the continuation of policy reform.

Co-existence of various types of agriculture・ Multifunctionality, food security

Domestic agriculture reform -Setting policy target on principle farmers-Promoting effective utilization of farmland-Introduction to new policy for stabilization for farm management from 2007

Establishment of trade rules that have a good balance between agricultural exporting and importing countries-Realistic trade- rules which allow continuation of domestic agricultural reform process-Balance of disciplines among Market Access, Domestic Support and Exports

Contribution to development of developing countries - Adequate Special & Differential Treatment for Developing Countries - Support in combination of improvement of Market Access and Cooperation.( Japan’s

New development Initiative for Trade)

For safeguarding non-trade concern……

eg) in market access:

○Sufficient coverage of sensitive/special products ← to allow the survival of sub-sectors that are critical for the NTC

○Not adopting the concept of tariff capping ← which would ignore the difference of tariff structure among various countries