“No U.S. potatoes!” 170,000 signatures pour in as Japanese farmers and opposition push back

【Financial News, Tokyo = Correspondent Hyejin Seo】Opposition parties and farmers are pushing back against the Japanese government’s consideration of allowing imports of fresh potatoes from the United States, turning the issue into a major point of contention in the National Diet.
According to Kyodo News on the 2nd, the Sanae Takaichi Cabinet is considering opening the market to fresh potatoes from the United States in response to U.S. pressure. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has already completed an assessment of the pest and disease risks posed by U.S. fresh potatoes.
Three opposition parties—the Democratic Party for the People, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Reform Assembly—recently met with Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Arata Takebe and urged him not to conduct negotiations with the United States on the premise that imports would be allowed.
The opposition parties called for strict plant quarantine measures and protection of the domestic production base to be given top priority.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, said, “I oppose reaching a hasty agreement under pressure from U.S. requests,” adding, “If perfect quarantine cannot be ensured, imports must not be allowed.”
Eri Tokunaga, chair of the Constitutional Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council, also said, “We must not yield to political pressure and must protect safety on the basis of scientific evidence.”
Sanseitō leader Sohei Kamiya pressed the issue during questioning in the National Diet, saying, “If the prime minister is going to invoke food security, domestic agriculture and plant quarantine must be protected first.”
Prime Minister Takaichi countered, “There will be no lifting of the import ban unless discussions from a scientific standpoint produce an agreement acceptable to both sides.”
But farmers in Hokkaido, the country’s largest production area, as well as in Nagasaki and Kagoshima, are strongly opposed. The Hokkaido Agricultural Cooperative (JA) adopted a resolution opposing imports, and an online petition against them has topped 170,000 signatures.
The opposition plans to make the issue a political battleground ahead of next April’s local elections. A lawmaker whose constituency includes a major potato-producing area predicted, “The Liberal Democratic Party can’t speak out because it’s looking over its shoulder at the Prime Minister’s Office, but the opposition will take the lead on this issue.”
[email protected] Hyejin Seo Reporter