Dairy items, including cheese, is one of the key farm product categories, which Japan hopes will be treated as an exception to tariff elimination under the EPA talks with the EU.
If Japan’s cheese tariffs, including 29.8 percent for some products, are eliminated, major production areas for dairy items in Japan, including Hokkaido, would be certain to face substantial impacts, the sources said.
With Japan and the EU remaining far apart over the handling of farm tariffs, their EPA negotiations are unlikely to go smoothly, the sources said.
In Tokyo on Monday, Japan and the EU kicked off discussions between their chief working-level negotiators, including on tariffs on various sectors, such as farm products, processed foods and automobiles.
The talks will continue toward the weekend, with the two sides aiming to draw up a comprehensive draft agreement.
If enough progress is made in the working-level talks, Japan and the EU may hold a ministerial meeting by the end of this year to seek the possibility of reaching a broad EPA agreement, the sources said.
Cheese is a key export item for the EU.
The EU is strongly calling on Japan to eliminate tariffs on all cheese products, including camembert and mozzarella cheese, for which Japan maintained its tariffs in the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement, and blue cheese, for which Tokyo agreed to cut its tariffs in the TPP among 12 countries, the sources said.
The EU is also demanding that Japan open its pork and beef markets further, seeking liberalization levels on par with those Tokyo agreed in the TPP accord, the sources said.
But Japan aims to maintain its tariffs on pork as the size of the market is relatively large.Speech
Source: JapanNews
Link: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003403150
