TOKYO: The Japanese government is considering setting a tariff-free import quota for Australian rice as part of Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade negotiations, it was learned Thursday.
A rice import quota is a focal point also between Japan and the United States, which resumed bilateral working-level TPP-related talks in Tokyo on Thursday. Rice trade is the biggest issue for Japan in the TPP negotiations.
Japan initially aimed to set an overall rice import quota for not only the United States and Australia but also Vietnam and other countries participating in the TPP talks. But Tokyo gave up the plan due to opposition from the United States and is now considering establishing an import quota each for the United States and Australia, informed sources said.
Japan currently imports 770,000 tons of rice per year without tariffs under the so-called minimum access import requirement set in fiscal 1995 as a result of the Uruguay Round global trade liberalization talks. Of the total, 360,000 tons are from the United States and 10,000 tons from Australia.
In the bilateral TPP talks, the United States is demanding that Japan set a quota of 175,000 tons for U.S. rice for consumption as staple food, in exchange for its acceptance of the current Japanese tariffs on foreign rice. Japan hopes to limit the quota to 50,000 tons to fend off downward pressure on domestic rice prices.
If Japan decides to set a quota for Australian rice, any concession Japan makes to the United State could prompt Australia to demand a wider amount in its bilateral talks with Japan, according to sources close to the TPP negotiations.
