Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture and rural development, has backed Japan's entry into a core group in farm trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization, Japanese government officials said Saturday.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Boel told visiting farm minister Yoshinobu Shimamura in Brussels on Friday that Japan could offer opinions of major food importing countries as a member of the core group, which currently consists of five major trade powers.