日豪ＥＰＡ―ＴＰＰ交渉の突破口に

April 08, 2014
EDITORIAL: Japan-Australia trade deal could lead to TPP breakthrough
日豪ＥＰＡ―ＴＰＰ交渉の突破口に

Japan and Australia reached a basic agreement on a trade accord on April 7 after seven years of negotiations that began during Shinzo Abe’s first tenure as prime minister.
　日本とオーストラリアの経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）交渉が、大筋でまとまった。第１次安倍政権が着手してから、７年での合意である。

Under the economic partnership agreement (EPA), the Japanese import tariff on Australian beef, the focus of the negotiations, will be lowered to around 20 percent from the current 38.5 percent. The tariff reduction will be implemented in stages to cushion the impact on domestic livestock farmers.
　焦点だった豪州産牛肉の輸入関税は、今の３８・５％を２０％前後に引き下げる。段階的に実施するなど、国内の畜産農家に配慮する。

Australia is a major exporter of a broad array of farm products, including beef, and a key participant in negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade liberalization accord.
　豪州は牛肉をはじめ農業の生産・輸出大国であり、環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）交渉の主要メンバーでもある。

The TPP talks, which involve a dozen Pacific Rim countries, have bogged down with Japan and the United States in deep disagreement over whether some exceptions to the principle of tariff elimination should be allowed. Although Tokyo wants to make five items, including beef, a “sanctuary” exempted from the principle, Washington is adamantly insisting on the elimination of all tariffs without exceptions.
　そのＴＰＰ交渉では、牛肉を含む重要５項目を「聖域」とする日本に対し、米国が関税の撤廃を強く求め、手詰まり状態にある。

Australia and the United States are rivals in beef exports to Japan. The Americans probably want to avoid allowing the EPA between Tokyo and Canberra to put American beef exporters at a disadvantage in the Japanese market. The bilateral deal is likely to affect the U.S. strategy for the TPP talks.
　豪州と米国は、牛肉の対日輸出でライバル同士だ。日豪間の合意を受けて、米国からの輸出が不利になる事態は、米国も避けたいはずだ。ＴＰＰでの交渉態度にも影響を及ぼそう。

The Japanese government should use the agreement with Australia to make a breakthrough for rapid progress in its TPP negotiations with the U.S. government. Since the TPP initiative calls for a high level of trade liberalization, its negotiations are inevitably more grueling than those for the Japan-Australia EPA. But negotiators should pay attention to the global trend in trade talks toward allowing the governments involved to take necessary policy measures while cutting tariffs.
　日本は、今回の合意を突破口に、米国との交渉を急いでほしい。高い水準の自由化を掲げるＴＰＰでは日豪ＥＰＡ交渉より厳しいやりとりが避けられないが、「関税を下げつつ、必要な対策をとる」というのが国際的な潮流でもある。

In fact, the history of Japan’s farm trade policy since it lifted quota restrictions on beef imports in 1991 shows that policy challenges facing the Japanese government have not been simple either-or issues like whether to maintain or lower tariffs and whether to protect domestic farmers or allow them to be forced out of business.
　実際、９１年に日本が牛肉輸入を自由化してからの推移を見ると、「関税の維持か、引き下げか」「国内農家の保護か、壊滅か」という単純な二者択一の図式ではないことがわかる。

Production of domestic beef, which accounts for 40 percent of Japan's beef consumption, has been stable, unaffected by events like the discovery of cases of mad cow disease in the United States. Japanese beef, typically “kuroge wagyu” beef from breeds of cattle with black hair, which constitutes nearly half of domestically produced beef, has successfully differentiated itself from imported beef in market positioning.
　日本の牛肉消費の４割を担う国産牛の生産は、米国産牛の牛海綿状脳症（ＢＳＥ）発生などにも影響されず、安定している。国産牛の半分近くを占める黒毛和牛を中心に、輸入牛肉との差別化が進んでいる。

Meanwhile, the number of farmers raising beef cattle in Japan has declined to slightly less than 30 percent of the figure before the liberalization of the market. On the other hand, the number of beef cows per farmer has more than tripled during the same period. As the Japanese tariff on beef imports has fallen gradually to 38.5 percent from 70 percent at the time of liberalization, the scale of beef cattle farming in Japan has grown steadily.
　一方、肉用牛を飼う農家は自由化時の３割弱まで減り、一戸あたりの飼育頭数は３倍強に増えた。輸入牛肉への関税が自由化時の７０％から３８・５％へと下がる一方で、農家の大規模化は着実に進んだ。

This is a good example of how farmers can survive sharp cuts in tariffs, which lower import prices, by enhancing the competitiveness of their products, although it should be noted that generous government subsidies have also played an important role.
　手厚い補助金が奏功した面があるとはいえ、関税の引き下げと農家の生き残り・体質強化が両立しうる具体例と言えるのではないか。

Japanese exports of wagyu, although still small in amount, are slowly increasing.
　日本からの和牛の輸出は、まだまだ少ないものの、増加傾向にある。

One serious problem for the future of Japanese cattle farming, however, is the high and rising average age of farmers, combined with a lack of successors. There are concerns that production of Japanese beef will decline gradually in the coming years.
　ただ、肉牛農家でも高齢化と後継ぎ不足は深刻で、生産量がじり貧になりかねないと心配する声が漏れる。

The government should pursue two main goals in negotiating EPAs. First, the government should make sure that Japanese consumers will have more diverse options by slashing tariffs. At the same time, it should take measures, including the effective use of subsidies, to support domestic farmers so the industry will be able to depend more on exports of its products.
　関税を引き下げて、消費者に多様な選択肢を用意する。補助金を有効に使いつつ国内農家を支え、輸出も行える産業に強化していく。
　これが、経済連携交渉に臨む際の基本である。

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 8