Takeshita Says Japan Will Have to Open Rice Market
Former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita says Japan will be unable to avoid partly opening its rice market in a world looking for freer trade in agriculture, two Japanese newspapers reported Friday.
“It would be impractical if Japan had to leave GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) to keep its rice import ban,” Yomiuri Shimbun quoted Takeshita as saying.
Tokyo Shimbun quoted him as saying Japan should encourage rice farmers to raise productivity while liberalizing the rice market.
Japanese pay about six times world prices for rice, and the government has come under heavy pressure, especially from the United States, to end the import ban.
Japan bans all commercial imports of rice and last year spent $2.1 billion subsidizing domestic production.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
