The government and the ruling coalition parties said Wednesday that Japan will take a flexible position on farm negotiations in the new round of global trade talks under the World Trade Organization.
But they will only show flexibility as long as the protection of selected products, especially rice, is taken fully into consideration, government officials said.
Japan will not maintain its policy of supporting the so-called Uruguay Round approach, which allows flexible negotiations on tariff cuts by product, they said.
The agreement also enables the government to propose a sharp cut in subsidies for domestic farmers and abolish export subsidies in the current Doha Round of trade liberalization talks at the WTO. Talks have been stalled since the collapse of the ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in September.
Japan has not yet specified which products will be subject to special protection because ongoing negotiations are aimed at producing framework agreements by the end of July, according to an official of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.
But a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker concerned with agricultural issues said special protection should cover "rice and a number of other products."
Japan imposes high, protective import tariffs on about 10 farm products, including peanuts, butter and rice. Some of the products might lose such protection due to the government's plan to ease its stance on tariff reduction.
In agricultural trade talks, WTO members have been split over what kind of formula should be used for tariff cuts.
Japan hopes its newly flexible stance will help get stalled agricultural negotiations rolling toward framework agreements by the July 31 deadline.
In Geneva, Japan has started asking 10 food importing countries, including South Korea, Switzerland and Norway, to adopt similarly flexible stances.