WTO urges Japan to reform, free trade
WTO says Japan structural reforms slowing-Trade reform would boost competitiveness
GENEVA, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Japan must liberalise its foreign trade as part of wide-ranging structural reforms to restore competitiveness and boost growth, the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday.
Looser macro-economic policies, albeit offset by the appreciation of the yen that reinforces deflationary pressures and saps export competitiveness, have helped Japan’s economy recover from the global financial crisis, the WTO said.
But these policies do not address long-standing structural problems, including a rapidly aging population, reflected in sluggish growth for a decade in real gross domestic product and productivity, it said in a report prepared for a regular review of Japan’s trade policies.
“These problems can be addressed more effectively by far-reaching structural reforms, of which trade liberalisation (and the resulting stimulus to competition) is an integral part,” the WTO said. “However, structural reforms have, if anything, slowed since 2009.”
The report was prepared in early January and so does not reflect some recent reform initiatives by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The report notes that the government has been moving towards income support in agriculture — where productivity is lower than in the rest of the economy — from price support.
But agriculture continues to benefit from substantial government support including higher tariffs than on other sectors, quotas, income support and in some sectors production controls, it said.
In its own report for the review, the Japanese government noted that Japan was the world’s biggest net importer of food and was particularly keen to strengthen international trade rules on export prohibitions and restrictions.
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WTO ministerial session to be held to seek Doha Round deal this year
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese trade and farm ministers will attend an informal ministerial session of the World Trade Organization in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday as momentum grows to move the stalled global trade liberalization talks toward a substantive agreement by the summer, Japanese government officials said Tuesday.
The Doha Round negotiations have missed successive deadlines since they were launched in 2001, due chiefly to differences between developed and major developing economies, and 2011 is being seen as a key year to achieve progress, especially because major political decisions will become difficult when the U.S. presidential election in 2012 nears.
It remains uncertain, however, whether a breakthrough can be achieved, especially between the United States and emerging economies such as China.
The one-day informal ministerial meeting is expected to be attended by ministers from around 25 of the 153 member economies of the WTO, including new Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano.
Japanese officials said that participants are unlikely to engage in detailed negotiations, such as on tariff rates, during the session. Kano has said that it may be more like an opportunity for new ministers to introduce themselves.
The major point of dispute so far concerns a U.S. demand, particularly directed at China, for the further liberalization of trade in industrial products, according to the officials.
Japan, for its part, is trying to ensure that a sufficient number of agricultural products can be designated as “sensitive” to exempt them from sharp tariff cuts.
If negotiations on the Doha Round show progress, WTO members are likely to hold an informal ministerial meeting, possibly in July, to reach a substantive agreement.
The weekend ministerial session will be held on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to attend the forum.
Read the original article on Mainichi in Japan here
