Japanese Farmers-Co-ops Under Pressure with Free Trade Deal

The threat from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the drive for an EU/USA free trade area, widely perceived as an attack on democracy is now well known. Less well known is the parallel deal that is being cooked up between the USA and eleven countries across the Pacific, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).

In Japan the leading opponents of this deal are the Co-operative movement especially in agriculture. JA-Zenchu is one of the world’s largest co-operative organisations, the umbrella organisation of the Japanese farmers’ co-ops; it supports farmers, markets their produce, provides their inputs and acts as banker and insurer for their businesses.
JA-Zenchu has taken the lead gathering other groups including consumers, health care & medical, forestry & fishery, and construction into joining the anti-TPP movement. The consequence is they have become a target of the government of Prime Minister Abe.

The TPP negotiations seem quite advanced; I say seem as all we know comes from leaks. Some details of the trade deal have been published by Wikileaks where they look to include provisions on food safety, intellectual property and copyright issues that are usually outside the boundaries of trade deals.

To those who have followed TTIP this is unsurprising as the TPP negotiations have included 600 corporate advisers, including representatives of Halliburton and Caterpillar.

The whole process is mired in secrecy even the US Congress won’t have access to the details before it is signed.  Senator Bernie Sanders, has called the TPP “disastrous” and said it is “written behind closed doors by the corporate world”, he denounced it as designed “to protect the interests of the largest multinational corporations at the expense of workers, consumers, the environment and the foundations of American democracy.”

In Japan “Abenomics” consist of a set of what the PM calls three “arrows” the usual neo-liberal claptrap, namely ultra-aggressive monetary easing, more fiscal spending and structural reforms.

It is these “structural reforms” that spell danger for Japans Co-op farmers. The Government is keen on “reforming” the co-ops, which it regards as an interest group protected by regulations. The reforms include a plan to strip the JA-Zenchu, as the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives, of its power to audit local co-ops and check their activities.

This looks like a small step but is part of a wider attempt to restructure Japanese agriculture.  The Government has a blueprint for increasing the ‘competitiveness’ of farmers through the consolidation of farms, expanding the entry of business corporations into the sector, and the development of products with higher added-value.

This would be accomplished by strengthening the management base of farmers and through closer “co-operation” with food-related industries, including the food processing and distribution sectors.

Japanese farming consists of large numbers of small-scale farms many located in particularly mountainous areas. How “consolidation” would work in these conditions is not explained. Like many mature farming economies farmers are aging and many have no one to take over when they retire.
There are young people interested farming and it would be simpler to help them start farming careers since they could play a part in revitalizing the sector and the rural economy but that would not help the global agri-business industry.
Given the geography of the country a key aspects of Japanese farming is its role in land conservation and environmental protection. Needless to say they have failed to show how the plans will help.
Whilst JA-Zenchu has consistently contributed to enhancing Japan’s agriculture by providing farmers with distribution, financial services, and management advice also it collectively purchases materials needed for farm production and markets their products.

More politically sensitive it the Japanese Agricultural Co-op movement is strictly non-GM and consumers are very particular when it comes to provenance having some of the highest food standards in the world. Backed by strong co-ops this has restricted US agri-business getting a foothold.

JA-Zenchu as well as supporting farmer co-ops is a huge financial services and banking business. As well as bursting open the farming industry to US Agri-business the suspicion is that the Abe Government is after the huge assets the JA-Zenchu has in banking and financial services.
Yoichi Tashiro, a professor at Otsuma Women’s University and an expert on agricultural economics, believes Abe has tried to weaken JA-Zenchu in order to promote negotiations for the proposed TPP trade agreement.
Tashiro says that Abe is trying to play up the political battle with JA-Zenchu because it is the keystone of the whole anti-TPP movement in Japan. The UK Co-op Sector is in solidarity with our Japanese colleagues in this fight.
It is time we all woke up to what is going on here. If these deals are so good for workers and consumers why are they so secretive?