Category Archives: TPP

CUJ and the No! GMO Campaign: Please Reply to Our Questions Regarding Glyphosate Use in Hokkaido

Biocide, Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Chemical pollution, Environment, Food, FTA, TPP, Trade, , , , ,

Request to cease pre-harvest glyphosate use in soybeans and please reply to our new concerns regarding its use (April 14, 2020)

To:

Hokuren Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives
Mr. Kazuyuki Uchida, Chairman of the Board

From:

No! GMO Campaign
Keisuke Amagasa
Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ)
Keisuke Amagasa, Co-Chairman
Kazuki Ono, Co-Chairman

Request to cease use of pre-harvest glyphosate in soybeans and reply to questions regarding its use

In response to our questionnaire dated March 17 2020, you responded on March 27 by e-mail, but you did not answer our questions 1 to 4.

Domestic agriculture is in a deep crisis due to trade agreements such as the TPP, the EU-Japan EPA, and the US-Japan FTA. We believe that the pursuit of safety in order to compete with cheap imported agricultural products is the best way to increase confidence in domestic agriculture and to survive. Many of the JAs under your organization are actively reducing the use of pesticides and pursuing environmentally friendly agriculture. Not only do we want you to produce safe agricultural products, but we also want to support domestic agriculture, which is responsible for Japan’s food self-sufficiency, and we worry about the health of the producers who are spraying pesticides.

Once again, we would like to ask you the following questions, and we would appreciate your sincere responses. Thank you for your time, but we ask that you respond in writing by April 28. The responses will be published on the website of Consumers Union of Japan.

1. What is your view on the fact that the herbicide glyphosate (product name Roundup, etc.) has been assessed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialized organization of the WHO, as “probably carcinogenic to humans” and its use has been regulated overseas and there have been a series of lawsuits.

2. You responded that you are complying with the Japanese legislation, but although glyphosate is applied to annual weeds on soybeans under the Pesticide Control Law, it is not applied as a wilting agent on soybeans. If glyphosate is sprayed on soybean plots just before harvest, not only weeds are affected, but soybeans are also affected, so we would like to raise the question about whether it is actually legal or not.

3. We heard that your Federation promoted the method of spraying glyphosate on soybeans just before harvesting to its affiliated JAs. Please stop spraying glyphosate because of these problems and concerns.

4. As a Federation responsible for Hokkaido’s agriculture, which accounts for more than 10% of Japan’s agricultural production, you have a responsibility not only to Hokkaido’s producers, but also to consumers throughout Japan who demand domestic agricultural products. Consumers expect that Hokkaido’s agricultural products are produced in cooler areas and use less pesticides, which makes them a reliable brand. We, the consumers, expect Hokkaido agriculture to reduce pesticides. The issue is not only if they are currently legal or not, but if they are harmful to the ecosystem, producers and consumers. What are your views on the pursuit of environmentally friendly agriculture?

Japan’s Consumers See No Merits from TPP

Biotechnology, Food, TPP, Trade, ,

 

Statement of Consumers Union of Japan

Japan’s Consumers See No Merits from TPP

March 9, 2018

With the controversial signing today of the TPP11 in Chile, Consumers Union of Japan is concerned that “consumers” are not mentioned even once in the formal agreement. “There can be no merits to our health or the environment, or to future generations, when only the interests of private corporations were taken into concern by the TPP negotiators,” says Koketsu Michiyo, General Secretary of CUJ. “More trade in products like cars and beef will further harm the climate, and make life even more difficult for Japan’s farmers, without any consideration of our democratic rights as citizens,” notes Ono Kazuoki, Co-chair of CUJ. “We are not in favour of a trade agreement that erodes rather than strengthens consumers’ right to know, for example if the imported food and feed is genetically modified or not,” says Amagasa Keisuke, Co-chair of CUJ.

The lack of proper consultation with stakeholders by the Japanese government, the secrecy during the negotiations, and the rush to sign the agreement even after the United States pulled out, are further problems that Consumers Union of Japan have identified, together with other allies in civil society in Japan and in the 10 other countries involved.

Consumers Union of Japan

1-9-19-207 Nishi-Waseda,

Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ) is a politically and financially independent non-governmental organization (NGO). CUJ is funded by membership fees, sales of its publications and donations. CUJ was founded in April 1969 as Japan’s first nationwide grassroots consumer organization.

 

Event: Petition Campaign for GM Labelling

Biotechnology, TPP, ,

How can we avoid eating genetically modified (GM) foods? Our petition campaign which started in 2015 has generated a lot of interest all over Japan, and we are collecting more and more signatures from people telling us that they strongly support the call for GM labels. This is the second round of our effort to show politicians and the government that all GM foods should be labelled properly. We will hold a meeting on October 7, 2016 at the Japanese Parliament in Nagatacho, Tokyo. Invited speakers will discuss the background and outline the threat to the consumers’ right to know, as the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will make it even more difficult for consumers to choose in an increasingly globalized world. Please participate and learn more about these important issues.

Close the loopholes! Japan's mandatory GM food labels do not cover products like food oil, margarine, and food additives.
Close the loopholes! Japan’s mandatory GM food labels do not cover products like food oil, margarine, and food additives.

 

Date: October 7, 2016
Time: 12:00-14:00

Location: House of Representatives (Shugiin) 2nd Bldg. Hall 1, Nagatacho, Tokyo

 

Program

-Explanation of the problem with Japan’s current GM labelling rules

-Discussion session: What do consumers want?

-Signature submission to government officials

 

Consumers Union of Japan

No! GMO Campaign

Food Safety Citizens’ Watch

 

 

Event: Petition Campaign for Better Labelling of Genetically Modified Food

Biotechnology, TPP, , ,

Consumers Union of Japan, the No! GMO Campaign and Food Safety Citizen’s Watch will hold an event in the Japanese Parliament to present the results so far of our petition campaign to collect signatures for better labelling of genetically modified food. The event will be an opportunity to discuss GM food in light of the new realities presented by the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that may soon be signed by 12 countries, including Japan. The TPP agreement also deals with cross-border trade barriers, and could mean that other countries or corporations may challenge Japan’s food labelling laws.

Since August, 2015 a large number of consumers have signed our petition to improve the mandatory GM labelling laws from 2000 to include all GM foods, and to lower the limit at which foods with GM ingredients must be labelled, which is currently 5% (for example, the limit in the European Union is 0.9%). We are strongly urging the Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety to instruct the Consumer Agency to push for improved labelling of all GM foods in Japan, based on the fundamental principles of the consumers’ right to know and right to choose.

Date: January 27, 2016
Time: 13:30-15-30
Location: House of Representatives (Shugiin) 2nd Bldg. Hall 1, Nagatacho, Tokyo

Consumers Union of Japan Strongly Opposes the TPP Agreement

Civil Rights, TPP,

Consumers Union of Japan strongly opposes the TPP agreement as a whole, which we regard as a threat to our rights, and calls for a movement to prevent Japan from participating in the TPP

October 5, 2015
Consumers Union of Japan

On October 5, 2015, the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations were concluded at a ministerial round in the US city of Atlanta. Thus the TPP has reached a new stage. These complex negotiations still have contradictions and need further legal adjustments before countries can ratify the agreement and enact it into national legislation. The debates and deliberations will now also begin in earnest in the parliaments of each member country.

“From the standpoint of consumers and producers, it is clear that Japan’s automobile industry and auto part makers won a big victory over other interests, especially the nation’s farmers and agricultural lobby. The stark-naked truth is that farmers will face a TPP agreement that completely fails to live up to the many promises made to them. Instead, the interests of large corporation and big capital took top priority, while ordinary people and their living conditions are under threat,” says Ono Kazuoki, co-chair of Consumers Union of Japan.

Back in 2012, when the Liberal Democratic Party was in opposition, its position was against TPP. LDP made promises to oppose participation in the negotiations as long as they were premised on tariff abolition without sanctuary, especially for agriculture. Other conditions included the rejection of numerical targets for cars and the investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) clause, as well as protection of food safety standards and Japan’s universal healthcare system. LDP even printed election posters that the party “does not lie” and that they opposed TPP, which they put up all over Japan. CUJ’s Ono Kazuaki notes: “For example, in April, 2013, both Houses of Japan’s parliament agreed that tariffs on rice, pork and beef, wheat, barley and sugarcane should not be affected by TPP. These promises and parliamentary resolutions have now largely been broken by the outcomes of the TPP negotiations.”

There is strong opposition and a movement of people against TPP not only in Japan but in many countries, including the US, Australia and New Zealand. This is truly a growing international movement. More and more people realize that their right to safe food is being disregarded, while their access to medicines will be more restricted by higher costs and patent rules. For family farmers and small-scale agriculture, the onslaught of imported goods will make their survival impossible. “Consumers Union of Japan will now step up its campaign against TPP both domestically and internationally. We will cooperate with the civic movement and protest against the TPP from the point of view of consumers and citizens,” says Ono Kazuoki.

We strongly urge the Japanese government to exit the TPP agreement unless the following conditions are met: admit that it violates the pledges made to the Japanese people, and start new negotiations between the participating countries with a clean slate.

(END)

Contact:
Consumers Union of Japan
Address: Nishi Waseda 1-9-19-207 Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo, Japan (169-0051)
E-mail: office.w@nishoren.org
Fax: +81-(0)3-5155-4767