2. Food and Agricultural Policies

1. Ensuring food safety and security

In light of developments related to BSE and avian flu, food safety and security is one of the most urgent concerns of the public. As the first step toward ensuring food safety and security, a fully integrated food safety administration will be created to replace today窶冱 highly segmented system that consists of the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. All processed and prepared foods will be required to indicate place of origin, and foodstuff traceability systems will be expanded and made more thorough. Programs for local production for local consumption and seasonal consumption of food in season will be promoted throughout the country. In particular, the principles of local production for local consumption and seasonal consumption of food in season will be implemented in school lunches to teach children about local agriculture, forestry and fisheries and their importance.

Japan depends on imports for 60 percent of its food consumption. Importation will be conditioned on the ability and willingness of exporters to comply with Japanese standards of food safety and plant and animal quarantine. 窶廬nternational food inspectors窶 will be posted in all major exporting countries to inspect food products from the perspective of the importing country. Japan currently operates 31 quarantine stations throughout the country with a combined staff of only 300 inspectors. Japan窶冱 border foodstuff inspection and quarantine system is capable of monitoring and inspecting merely 5 percent of the nation窶冱 imports. The Democratic Party of Japan will significantly enlarge and strengthen this system.

Currently, suspicions remain concerning the effective control of cattle age, regulation of cattlefeed and compliance with Beef Export Verification Program rules in the United States. At this point, the resumption of beef imports from the United States ignores the public窶冱 concern for food safety and security, ﾂ?and we will continue to call for a halt to US beef imports. To ensure food safety and security and to reserve the consumer窶冱 right to choose, beef and processed beef products will be required to carry labels indicating place of origin and that the product has been tested for BSE. Furthermore, to subject imported beef to the same traceability requirements as domestic beef, the Democratic Party of Japan will work toward early enactment of the following bills that it has submitted to the Diet: 窶廝ill for the Revision of the Law on Special Measures against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE Measures Law),窶 and 窶廝ill for Law for Special Measures Concerning the Management and Transmission of Information for Individual Identification of Cattle (Beef Traceability Law).窶

2. Ensuring the supply of domestic agricultural products through income support for all commercial farm households

The Democratic Party of Japan will work toward maintaining and expanding domestic agricultural output while moving forward on World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations for trade liberalization and promoting the conclusion of free trade agreements (FTAs) with individual countries. To achieve these purposes, an 窶彿ndividual (household) income support system窶 will be established to ensure that the agricultural environment will be maintained and farming will remain viable while the food needed for supporting the population will be produced.

The government窶冱 proposed 窶彭irect payment system窶 will only benefit a certain number of large-scale farms. The proposed program will jeopardize stable food supplies and will make it difficult to improve Japan窶冱 self-sufficiency ratio. To fundamentally transform this situation and to revitalize Japanese agriculture and the agricultural areas of the country, the Democratic Party of Japan will adopt the 窶彿ndividual (household) income support system窶 as the main pillar of its agricultural policies. Under this system, in principle, all commercial farm households would be eligible to receive income support. The total amount of income support payments would come to around 1 trillion yen and would be applicable to strategically important crops, such as rice, wheat, soy beans, millet, rapeseed and feed crops. Additional payments would be made for scale of operation to encourage farmers to integrate their farmlands, for quality of product to avoid discarding of produce, and for environmental preservation, including the maintenance of terraced paddy fields and the promotion of organic farming.

This program would facilitate the attainment of the following objectives: maintaining the present total area of farmland at 4.67 million hectares; advancing toward total self-sufficiency in food; ensuring food safety and security; maintaining the diverse functions of farming; promoting regional economic activity to achieve balanced development of the country; and, maintaining conditions conducive to the continuation of farming by farming households.

3. Revitalization plan for forestry and lumber industries

Japan窶冱 self-sufficiency in lumber had previously fallen to as low as 18 percent. However, in recent years, import volumes have decreased due to rising prices of foreign lumber. As a result, self-sufficiency in lumber rose to 20 percent in 2005. From the perspective of promoting sustainable forestry management, the Democratic Party of Japan created a 窶彝evitalisation Plan for Forestry and Lumber Industries窶 in June of 2007. Specifically, the plan would leverage the excellent business opportunities provided by growing demand for domestic lumber to revitalize forestry-based local economies throughout Japan. To achieve this goal the domestic output of lumber over the next ten years would be increased to nearly 50 million cubic meters, the level of Japanese production during the 1960s, raising Japan窶冱 self-sufficiency in lumber to 50 percent.

To promote the re-development of abandoned forests, large forest tracts must be created through forestry cooperatives, and lumbering costs must be lowered through the development of service roads and the introduction of high-performance equipment. In addition, foresters will be trained to take on the tasks of forest management and control. Sustainable use of forestry resources will be ensured by mandating thinning and reforestation, and by promoting longer periods between harvesting.

Due to the bulkiness of wood products, forestry-related industries are typically location-based industries that flourish in close proximity to forests. For this reason, forestry-related industries can become core industries for mountainous regions. Various measures will be taken to promote the use of domestic lumber in wood processing, home construction and paper and pulp industries. These measures will include the efficient operation of sawmills to correspond with demand, significant reductions in distribution costs through the development of lumber distribution networks, and prioritizing the use of domestic lumber by revising the regulations and restrictions contained in the Building Standard Law and other related laws.

The establishment of integrated lumber production systems will yield many benefits, including the following: expansion of 窶徃reen jobs窶 in forestry development; revitalization of wood-processing industries; the expansion of employment in the construction industry, which has been adversely affected by the reduction in public works; and, promotion of the tourist industry through 窶徃reen tourism窶 and 窶彳co tourism.窶?/p>

Furthermore, the following initiatives will also be mounted. High value-added services designed to support lumber production systems will be developed. The development of natural energy industries centred on wood biomass, and forestry and environmental businesses targeting global warming will be promoted. Public works projects aimed at preserving the public welfare functions of forests (such as the construction of 窶徃reen dams窶? will be actively pursued. Through these undertakings, one million new jobs will be created in employment-starved mountainous regions, thereby putting a stop to depopulation and drawing back young people to these regions.

4. Promoting fisheries industry with emphasis on resource management

Japan is the world窶冱 top importer of marine products, and its self-sufficiency in this area has dropped to 57 percent. From the perspective of implementing rigorous resource management and revitalizing the fisheries industry, an individualized TAC (total allowable catch) system will be adopted, defining the maximum catch that any fisherman or enterprise may harvest. Persons adversely affected by this system will be compensated through an 窶彿ndividual (household) income support system.窶

Public works projects will be undertaken to develop 窶忖nderwater forests of seaweed窶 to serve as spawning grounds for marine life and to promote marine resource recovery. To revitalize fishing villages and communities, individual (household) income support will be provided for participation in community resource replenishment projects, such as sea cleanup and fry stocking. In addition to these measures, reasonable restrictions will be placed on importation of marine products from countries operating in waters that compete with Japan, and systems will be introduced to stabilize the price of marine products.