Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 4 - 10 [ECONOMY]

Abe seeks to undermine Japan Agricultural Cooperatives at request of US

The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) in June last year issued a written statement demanding that the Japanese government revise regulations on Japan Agricultural Cooperatives Group (JA) and establish a level playing field between JA’s financial operations and U.S. financial institutions.

In line with the demand from ACCJ, the Abe government plans to submit to the Diet a bill to change the rules on how JA’s financial business should be operated.

The bill, which is about audits of cooperatives, aims at weakening the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-Zenchu)’s influence over JA member cooperatives.

Abe is pushing forward with his reform plan in order to give advantage to U.S. business circles and not to Japanese farmers. Selling JA’s financial operations to foreign financial institutions will be of no benefit to the agricultural sector in Japan.


Past related article:
> Abe’s agricultural reform for world’s ‘most business-friendly nation’ [February 17, 2015]