Farm minister Tsutomu Takebe rebuked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick on Friday for criticizing Japan's "narrow minded" attitude toward the launch of a new round of trade liberalization negotiations under the World Trade Organization.
Speaking at a news conference, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister said criticism should be directed at "a state trying to forcibly list its demands in a WTO ministerial statement," although he did not name the United States.
Takebe said Japan has "logically" insisted that any demands on agricultural policies should be made separately in ongoing WTO talks on agriculture for a smooth launch of a new WTO round, instead of having a ministerial statement reflect such differences.